The All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders in Abia State have pledged to deliver the state to President Bola Tinubu and wrestle power from the Governor Alex Otti-led Labour Party (LP) government in 2027.
The stakeholders made the pledge on Friday in Abuja at a meeting held at the instance of Orji Kalu, a senator and former governor of the state.
The meeting, held at Mr Kalu’s Abuja residence, had in attendance the APC National Welfare Secretary, Donatus Nwankpa; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; and a former House of Representatives member, Emeka Atuma.
Others were a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, Obinna Oriaku; Ndukwe Adindu, Sam Ikiri, Mike Nwabara, Anyim Nyerere, Nze Esiaga, Chidi Maduekwe, Ndukwe Maxwell and Nnanna Kalu, among others.
Speaking with reporters at the end of the meeting, Mr Kalu expressed happiness that Abia APC members were now “one united family.”
He said this was in line with the president’s directive during the recent APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja.
“We are more united now than ever because President Tinubu, during the last APC NEC meeting, gave us a directive to go and reconcile members of the party in our state.
“He knows we are capable of doing it,” Senator Kalu said, adding that the stakeholders would be grateful if the masses in the state joined efforts to unite the party more.
He stated that the people of Abia stood to benefit more if the state was brought to the mainstream politics.
Kalu, representing Abia North District, added that although the state is currently in opposition, the Tinubu-led federal government has been doing much for it.
“They can see what is happening in Abia North senatorial district concerning federal government’s interventions.
“I am very thankful to former President Muhammadu Buhari and the incumbent President Tinubu. This is what the three senatorial districts will enjoy when they join the APC.
“The last time I went to see the president, he was not very happy about the situation in Abia, and I gave him my words that we are going to work hard to bring back Abia as a united, indivisible entity.
“The president knows that as Abia political leaders, we are capable of doing that; we are going to do that, and we are promising all the leaders that nobody will be left behind,” he said.
Kalu advised those in the opposition to join efforts with the stakeholders to ensure that the state was brought to mainstream politics in the interest of the people.
He called on the APC members in the state to identify with the party’s peace initiative and ensure its growth and stability.
This, he said, was critical to enable it speak with one voice and go into the elections as one indivisible entity.
The former governor thanked the people of the state for reposing their confidence in the stakeholders over the years, saying with the APC, the future would be brighter for the state.
“I was a very good governor; they also know that I am a very good senator and that I have never deceived the people of Abia.
“I am committed to whatever we want to do, and whoever we present as candidates for elections from the House of Assembly to the president, they will know that they will be credible people.
“My goodwill message to the people of Abia is that we have a president that has done the first term and will be going for a second term.
“If he is doing second term, Abia needs to also align with the centre because we cannot afford to be speaking differently,” he stated.
Kalu added that the consensus of the South-East on the 2027 elections was that the zone would do very well by supporting Tinubu.
Earlier, Mr Nwankpa, the APC national welfare secretary, said the meeting was aimed at redirecting the party and consolidating its recent gains.
He said the APC in Abia had witnessed the largest influx of people from other political parties into its fold in the last two years.
“We have received over 70 per cent of former members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others, and this is the show of their acceptability of the APC in Abia,” he said.
Mr Nwankpa pleaded with the party’s leaders in Abia to bury their differences and come together to work for it and the people of the state.
He assured of the APC leadership’s support, saying its support and loyalty, as well as its determination to capture Abia in 2027, are “unshakable.”
Besides its internal wrangling in the state, the APC has not won the governorship election in Abia since the party was founded in 2013. The PDP had been a dominant party in the state until it was dislodged in 2023 by the LP, whose candidate, Mr Otti, won the governorship election.
Governor Otti has enjoyed tremendous political support across party lines in the state because of his high-rated performance. He has cleaned up Aba, Abia’s commercial hub, which used to be one of the dirtiest cities in Nigeria, and is opening up the South-eastern state with new roads and other infrastructure.
However, Mr Otti’s party, the LP, has been bedevilled by a leadership crisis, which will likely affect the party’s performance in future elections.
