Ebere Uzoukwa, PhD

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu’s recent declaration that Abia will be APC in 2027, coupled with his emphatic insistence that he would actively work against the re-election of Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, despite professing personal friendship, is not only reckless but deeply revealing. It exposes a troubling contradiction between unrestrained political ambition and the standards of statesmanship expected of a former governor and serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

On the surface, the statement is framed as an expression of party loyalty. In substance, however, it reflects a longstanding pattern of political indiscretion that has steadily eroded Senator Kalu’s credibility if truly he has any. Repeatedly, he has entangled himself in careless pronouncements that inflame public sentiment, weaken his own political standing, and provoke resistance even among his former allies. Increasingly, it appears that his greatest political challenge has never been external opposition, but his inability to exercise restraint, strategic judgment, and sensitivity to changing political realities.

No one questions Senator Kalu’s constitutional right to support his party, the APC. Political choice is fundamental to democracy. What is objectionable is his persistent fixation on Governor Alex Otti, whom he repeatedly drags into partisan narratives without provocation. Governor Otti has neither sought his endorsement nor attempted to undermine his party. He has not courted elite validation or godfather approval. His mandate derives directly from the will of the Abia electorate, freely expressed and firmly sustained by performance in office.

More damaging to Senator Kalu’s claims is the absence of empirical support for his projected political influence. If he indeed worked assiduously for the APC and President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 elections, the outcomes in his own political stronghold should reflect that effort. INEC records present a different picture. Across polling units and wards in Bende Local Government Area, the APC suffered clear and decisive defeats in both the presidential and governorship elections. Same voters, same election day, same ballot papers, yet the party lost convincingly.
This reality exposes his assertions as rhetorical posturing rather than demonstrable influence.

Beyond electoral arithmetic, the political dynamics of Abia North have shifted fundamentally. Senator Kalu lost Isuikwuato and Umunneochi outright in the last election and struggled significantly in Bende, Ohafia, and Arochukwu. The inconclusive declaration and controversial reversals that followed may linger in public memory, but they belong to a political phase that has run its course. That circumstance will not be repeated.

This electoral cycle is different in both character and content. Governor Alex Otti’s style of governance has redefined political loyalty across Abia North and the wider state. Concrete achievements in infrastructure, education, healthcare, urban renewal, and fiscal discipline have displaced empty rhetoric. Abians now vote with discernment, guided by performance and integrity rather than coercion, nostalgia, or elite manipulation.

In Ohafia, the Deputy Governor alongside other critical stakeholders exercise firm political control. In Isuikwuato, the political direction is unambiguous. In Umunneochi, Senator Kalu is increasingly isolated, even within APC structures. In Arochukwu, political dominance has shifted decisively to forces aligned with the Governor.
The long used tactic of projecting his younger brother as a bargaining chip for relevance has also lost all potency. That approach is exhausted. The same brother once contested the governorship election and finished last. In contrast, within the Labour Party, several experienced and grassroots connected senatorial aspirants are emerging, individuals with wide acceptability and the confidence of the Governor.

Across Abia North, prominent voices have already drawn clear lines. As Kenneth Ahia SAN aptly observed, Senator Kalu has made the choice before voters easier. Friendship must yield to conscience. Personal relationships cannot override collective interest. Many who once stood with him are now prepared not only to vote against him, but to actively mobilize for his political exit.

This is precisely the point at which statesmanship ought to have prevailed. A former governor, regardless of party affiliation, is expected to rise above narrow ambition and acknowledge effective governance where it exists. Senator Kalu was expected to recognize Governor Otti’s performance and support every sincere effort aimed at sustaining the transformation that has repositioned Abia as one of the better governed states in Nigeria. That is the minimum historical obligation of anyone who has once wielded executive authority.

Instead, ambition has eclipsed judgment. His posture reflects an inability to subordinate personal calculations to the broader interest of the state. What is being pursued is not progress, but a return to godfatherism, a relapse into an era marked by waste, mediocrity, and arrested development. Interestingly, the people of Abia North are no longer willing to mortgage their future for political nostalgia.

Suffice it to say that the implications of Senator Kalu’s 2027 agenda are now unmistakable. It is steadily consolidating a broad, quiet, and determined consensus among the people of Abia North to retire him politically. This resolve is not driven by sentiment or vendetta, but by a shared commitment to protect hard won progress. That same determination resonates across Abia State. Abians have embraced leadership that works, governance that delivers, and a political direction that restores dignity and hope. They are prepared to defend it with unity, clarity, and purpose.

In that inevitable reckoning, ambition without statesmanship will not withstand performance, principle, and the sovereign will of the people.

Dr. Ebere Uzoukwa is the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Abia State on Public Affairs.