A former senatorial aspirant under the APC in Abia State, Dr. Philips Nto, has attributed the continued unity in the party to the laudable leadership style of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu.
He noted that the reconciliation efforts by Ben Kalu, as the leader of the APC in Abia State, have helped to douse tensions, especially among those who were unjustly schemed out during the primaries.
Dr. Philips Nto, who was reacting to a meeting convened by the Deputy Speaker for both candidates and aspirants of the Abia APC, declared that if not for Ben Kalu, most of the aspirants who were unsuccessful would have taken another course of action.
Using his own senatorial primaries in Abia North as a case study, Dr. Philips Nto insisted that he was brazenly rigged out by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, whom he accused of returning bloated figures higher than the entire number of registered APC members in the state.
“I clearly won the primaries for the Abia North Senate seat, but my opponent came out with crazy results, the figures of which were more than the entire number of registered APC members in the senatorial district. But I didn’t appeal the result because of the counsel of our leader, Ben Kalu,” he said.
He also disclosed that he accepted the results in deference to the supremacy of the party and to give peace a chance.
Said he: “I have accepted the result as a mark of respect to His Excellency, the Deputy Speaker, and to ensure party cohesion at all levels ahead of the forthcoming elections.”
He commended the initiative of Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu to unite the party by bringing both aspirants and candidates under one roof to iron out their differences.
Dr. Philips Nto, who is a former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Abia State, pledged his loyalty to the party through Ben Kalu, saying that he would continue to work for the triumph of the APC and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 elections.
