….Urges Tinubu, Yilwatda to Call Senator to Order
Ahead of the 2027 general election, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, has raised the alarm that a former governor of the state, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, is working against the APC and its candidates.
He said that, from video evidence of his political activities, Orji Uzor Kalu, who is an APC senator representing Abia North Senatorial Zone, has been campaigning for Governor Alex Otti, who belongs to the opposition Labour Party.
Chief Ogbonnaya, who is the Director-General of Eric Opah’s gubernatorial campaign organisation, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, to warn Senator Kalu to desist from engaging in anti-party activities.
He recalled that the State Working Committee of the APC had earlier warned Kalu against campaigning for Alex Otti and wondered why someone who wants to undermine the electoral chances of his party should be allowed to go scot-free.
“I have documentary evidence where he had gone on campaign to ask people to vote for him and Alex Otti without mentioning other APC candidates. This is against the unity and cohesion of the APC,” Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, popularly known as Evuleogu Ibeku, lamented.
He regretted that it was this same attitude of sabotage of the APC that made it impossible for Tinubu to score up to 10 per cent in Kalu’s senatorial zone in 2023.
According to him, “As it is now, going by Kalu’s conduct, people are confused whether to vote for Tinubu and the APC or Alex Otti and the Labour Party. That’s why the man should be called to order before it is too late.”
He said rumours were rife that Kalu was working for Alex Otti to weaken the APC so that his brother, who failed the APC governorship primary, would become governor in 2031.
Chief Ogbonnaya, a former commissioner in Abia State, also regretted that there were other saboteurs even within the State Working Committee of the APC who were not committed to delivering the governorship candidate of the party, Chief Eric Opah.
He said such people, whom he described as moles, were agents of the Labour Party being paid by the government to destabilise the APC, and called for urgent action against them.
On the alleged pact between the APC and Labour to deliver President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and Alex Otti, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya said it was a ruse, as no pact exists anywhere.
The Director-General of Eric Opah’s campaign council noted that he was fully aligned with the submission of Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, that any support for the APC must be from the president to the least candidate in the APC.
“The propaganda-driven government of Abia State is flying that kite to deceive voters. The APC is on its own and is campaigning for Tinubu, from the House of Assembly candidates upwards. Our governorship candidate is Eric Opah, and he is going to retire Otti in 2027,” he insisted.
He said that, contrary to the wish of Alex Otti, it had become obvious that he was in for a defeat, hence the desperate move to bribe Abia teachers with one billion naira.
“Instead of paying the teachers a living wage, he is throwing one billion at them, which each teacher may not even get up to N50,000. Given the amount of money that comes to this state monthly, Alex Otti is a monumental failure, and Abia people now know the truth,” he submitted.
