2027: Two Reps, ex-lawmaker defect to APP, clinch NASS tickets

The Action Peoples Party has disclosed the defection of two serving members of the House of Representatives and a former lawmaker to the party.

The development is expected to strengthen the party’s political structure and its campaign for a new approach to governance, ahead of the upcoming 2027 general elections.

According to a statement issued on Monday by APP chieftain and member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere, the newly defected lawmakers include Boma Goodhead, representing Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru Federal Constituency (Rivers State); Alozie Ikechi, representing Obingwa/Ugwunagbo/Osisioma Federal Constituency (Abia State);  and Uju Chima, a former member representing Oguta/Ohaji-Egbema/Oru West Federal Constituency (Imo State).

APP noted that the three lawmakers were listed among the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final candidates for the 2027 National Assembly elections on its platform.

“The Action Peoples Party has recorded a fresh boost ahead of the 2027 general elections with the defection of two serving members of the House of Representatives and a former federal lawmaker to the party.

“Those who joined the APP are Boma Goodhead, representing Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru Federal Constituency of Rivers State; Alozie Munachim Ikechi, representing Obingwa/Ugwunagbo/Osisioma Federal Constituency of Abia State; and Uju Kingsley Chima, a former member representing Oguta/Ohaji-Egbema/Oru West Federal Constituency of Imo State.

“Goodhead and Ikechi are serving members of the House, while Chima is a former member seeking a return to the National Assembly under the APP,” the statement read.

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Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State, described the development as a major addition to the party ahead of the 2027 elections.

In his welcome address to the lawmakers, Ugochinyere described the party as a platform focused on the people’s interests.

“APP is a political home for independent-minded, new-generation politicians seeking to change old ways for a new way that is dominated by the people’s interests,” Ugochinyere stated.

The statement noted that the party was “excited to have great democratic fighters in its ranks,” adding that the defection was necessitated as politicians needed to reposition “themselves and political parties seeking to expand their structures beyond their traditional strongholds.”

In May 2026, Goodhead was disqualified from contesting the party’s primaries, thereby being denied a return ticket by the All Progressives Congress.

According to a report by PUNCH Online, in March 2026, Ikechi was among the 46-member Congress and Convention Committee slated to oversee the membership re-registration exercise of the Labour Party.

Chima, a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party in Imo State, escaped an alleged assassination attempt in February 2023, as the PDP described the incident an attempt by armed agents in the state to assassinate him.