Abia APC stakeholders unite, endorse Tinubu for 2027

Former Abia State Governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and scores of aggrieved chieftains of the All Progressives Congress in the state on Friday agreed to work together as a family to deliver President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.

They also vowed to wrest power from Governor Alex Otti-led Labour Party government in the state.

The resolution was reached at an emergency stakeholders’ meeting at Kalu’s residence in Abuja.

In attendance were the APC National Welfare Secretary, Donatus Nwankpa, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, and former Commissioner for Finance, Obinna Oriaku.

Others include Ndukwe Adindu, Sam Ikiri, Mike Nwabara, Anyim Nyerere, Nze Esiaga, Chidi Maduekwe, Ndukwe Maxwell, Nnanna Kalu, and Emeka Atuma, among others.

Briefing newsmen after the closed-door meeting, Kalu announced that Abia APC members are now “one united indivisible family” in line with the directive given by Tinubu at the last National Executive Committee meeting at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

He said, “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 states. He knows we are capable of doing it.

‘We will be very grateful if the people of our constituencies and the masses also join us to further unite the party. They stand to benefit more by enjoying the federal might. They can see what is happening in Abia North Senatorial District in terms of the Federal Government’s interventions.

“I am very thankful to both former President Buhari and the incumbent. This is what the three senatorial districts will enjoy when they join the APC.”

The senator representing Abia North explained that the last time he went to see Tinubu, he wasn’t pleased with the situation in Abia.

Kalu said he, however, assured him that he would champion the campaign to bring all aggrieved stakeholders of Abia APC to a roundtable to resolve their differences.

He said, “The President knows that we, the leaders of Abia, are capable of doing that. We are calling and promising all that nobody will be left behind. We are in government, and everybody must roll with us because anybody who does might regret his action.

“They should identify with the peace initiative, and I believe we will achieve our desire because the most important thing is for the party to be strong and speak very loudly during elections.

“I was a good governor. The people also know that I am a very good senator who never deceived the Abia people. I am committed to whatever we want to do and whoever we present as candidates for elections from the House of Assembly to the Presidency. They know that they will be credible.”

Kalu also announced that they have endorsed the President’s re-election bid in 2027.

According to the former Chief Whip of the Senate, the take-home from the stakeholders’ meeting was to work for his victory and ensure that APC also wrest Abia from Otti at the next poll.

“We have a President that has done first term and will be going for second term. If he is doing his second term, Abia needs to also align to the centre because we cannot afford to be speaking differently.

“The consensus of the South East over 2027 is that the zone will do very well in supporting him. I challenge them to mark my words. Remember when Mr President visited Enugu, I wasn’t there physically, but I have his permission to visit all governors in the South East and beyond, and I am doing that.

“We are working and not resting. The President knows that there are few planners behind him, and when we plan, we execute the plan. The Class of 1999 governors are made up of very tough people and a very good class,” he noted.

Earlier in his address, Nwankpa affirmed that the idea of the meeting was to come together and consolidate the gains the party has made in recent times.

Nwakpa emphasised that APC Abia State has had the largest influx from other parties in the last two years.

He said, “We have received over 70 per cent of the former members of the PDP among others. This is the show of their acceptability of APC in Abia State. Our determination to capture the government house of Abia State come 2027 is uncompromising.

“We have also come to beg Abia APC leaders, starting with the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who is the number six citizen in the country, former governor Orji Kalu, our serving minister, and other critical leaders here and in absentia to come together, including our immediate past gubernatorial candidate, High Chief Ikechi Emenike.

“We will condemn any leader who, in one way or the other, is in tune with supporting Otti to continue in office. We are not saying that he should leave. But we are saying that come 2027, the next governor of Abia will be an APC member. We will denounce, suspend and take any action against any leader who does otherwise.”