There was a major political shift in Abia State on Monday as hundreds of youths marched through the capital, Umuahia, demanding that former Governor of the state, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, should retire from elective politics to make way for younger ones.
They unanimously endorsed Kalu’s challenger for the Abia North Senate seat, Dr. Phillips Nto, insisting that he would make a better senator than the former governor.
Marching through Umuahia, they made their way to the APC Secretariat at the busy Azikiwe Street, where they delivered their protest letter to President Bola Tinubu through the state chairman.
In the letter, the youths expressed disenchantment with Senator Kalu, accusing him of turning them into modern-day slaves.
According to the letter signed by Dr. Uchenna Kalu Akpi, Mr. Kingsley Olugu and Bro. Vitals Igbokwe, the youths, who came under the umbrella of Old Bende Political Forum, Abia Youths Christian Assembly and Abia North Young Professionals for Tinubu’s Mandate, demanded that Kalu be given the Ayade treatment for abysmal representation.
“Because we are not a conquered people, and because we believe in the peaceful exercise of our democratic rights, we respectfully appeal to you, sir, as the leader of our great party, to intervene and ensure that Orji Uzor Kalu is not given the senatorial ticket for a third term,” they wrote.
They lamented that Kalu had been treating the people as a conquered entity, often boasting that the Abia North Senate seat is his for keeps.
According to them, all federal appointments given by the APC government had been cornered by Kalu for himself and his immediate family.
The youths wondered why Kalu would want to return to the Senate for a third term while his younger brother is also vying for governor under the same APC.
They requested the president to liberate them from the senator’s political stranglehold by ensuring that Dr. Phillips Nto is given the party ticket for the senatorial election to represent Abia North.
They described Dr. Phillips Nto as one of them who understands their problems and would be in a better position to solve them.
They affirmed that, given his pedigree as a cerebral academic, astute administrator, and a grassroots man, Dr. Phillips Nto was the best man for the job.
Addressing the protesters, a representative of the APC chairman in the state, Chief Uche Aguoru, pledged to deliver their letter to the appropriate quarters.
He also announced that the APC in the state would adopt direct primaries for the selection of its candidates and promised all aspirants a level playing field.
He told them to remain peaceful and mobilise for their preferred aspirant.
