A dispute has emerged between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Abia State over the party membership of Senator Nkechi Nwaogu ahead of the 2027 general election.

Nwaogu, who is the NDC’s senatorial candidate for Abia Central, has rejected the APC’s claim that she remains a member of the party, saying she resigned from the APC in early May and subsequently joined the NDC.

The controversy followed separate statements issued by the two parties over Nwaogu’s political status.

The NDC, through its Publicity Secretary, Emeka Luis Okoro, said in a statement on Friday that Nwaogu’s candidacy remained valid. The party said she became a member of the NDC before May 10, the deadline it cited for political parties to submit their digital membership registers to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 election.

The NDC also said Nwaogu did not contest or participate in the APC senatorial primary held in Abia in 2026 and urged its members to continue supporting her candidacy.

However, the Abia APC rejected the claim and maintained that Nwaogu remains a bona fide member of the party.

The party’s Publicity Secretary, Uche Aguoru, said Nwaogu purchased the APC’s Senate nomination form and participated in its Abia Central senatorial primary on May 18, 2026.

According to the APC, Nwaogu scored 12,033 votes in the primary and finished as the runner-up. The party said the exercise was conducted under the supervision of Hon. Erasmus Cishark, who served as Returning Officer and Chairman of the APC Senatorial Primary Election Committee.

The APC further stated that Nwaogu’s name was included in the party’s membership register submitted to INEC on May 10, 2026. It also said it had no record of her resignation from the party and that her membership and registration details remained in its database.

The party consequently called on the NDC to stop circulating what it described as misleading information about Nwaogu’s membership status.

Nwaogu, however, dismissed the APC’s position when contacted, insisting that she had left the party.

“I don’t belong to APC. I left them a long time ago, in early May. Don’t mind them,” she said.

Asked whether she formally resigned, Nwaogu replied that she did so at her ward level, arguing that resignation from the party was handled at that level rather than at the state level.

She also said she did not participate in the APC’s senatorial primary, despite having earlier completed the nomination process.

“when they did their primary, did they see me? I filled their form, did everything. I saw the handwriting just before the primary and I didn’t participate,” she said.

Nwaogu previously represented Abia Central Senatorial District from 2007 to 2015 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before joining the APC.

The dispute has also drawn attention to the candidate list published for the 2027 senatorial election. The published list identifies Nkechi Nwaogu as the NDC candidate for Abia Central, while Atuma Emeka is listed as the APC candidate for the same senatorial district.