The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Tony Nwoye, says he left the Peoples Democratic Party because of the impunity orchestrated by members of the party and allowed by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mr Nwoye said this during the Anambra State governorship debate organised by Channels Television on Sunday.

He said the problem started after he won the ticket of the party for the 2013 governorship election and assured voters in Anambra that he is a loyal party man who had no choice than to leave the PDP.

“The PDP, then presided over by the former President, supervised and ensured that Tony Nwoye would not be a candidate. I had to battle through the court,” he said.

According to him, despite the lack of support in that election, he remained loyal to the party. However, the party was bent on frustrating him as it also refused to allow his inauguration after he subsequently won a House of Representatives.

“They sabotaged me but I still remained in the party, a loyal party man. This was a party I served as financial secretary, a party I served as a state chairman. (Under me) PDP won the entire state House of Assembly (seats), the entire National Assembly (seats) except one seat, and even (won) the governorship,” said.

“After the whole thing was done, I still remained steadfast with the PDP; a party (under which) I won House of Reps (election), but they refused to swear me in, a party that jeopardised me and supported APGA another party.”

While he was willing to put all that aside, the failure of the PDP to hold state congresses he considered transparent proved to be the final straw.

“In 2015, August, I said ‘let us do free and fair congresses. Let Anambra people decides who will lead them. Somebody, somewhere in Abuja, my friend Olisa Metuh said ‘No’. They will stay in Abuja and write congress results,” Mr Nwoye said.

“He would not allow people to determine who leads them. He would not allow Ekwueme who formed this party (the people where he comes from) to determine who will lead this party. That was why I left; impunity, impunity, impunity.”

Mr Nwoye insisted that regardless of all that happened he remains “a man of honour and integrity.