Abia APC Torn Apart as Stakeholders Endorse Benjamin Kalu for Governor

The All Progressives Congress in Abia State is split down the middle after a stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia endorsed Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu as the party’s preferred governorship candidate for 2027.

The endorsement came from party executives, former lawmakers, serving legislators, and chieftains drawn from the 17 Local Government Areas and three senatorial zones. It was delivered by voice vote at the meeting on Sunday.

Benjamin Kalu thanked the stakeholders but stopped short of a formal declaration. “My response is going to be made available in a few weeks. I want to thank you for finding me worthy of this position. So in the coming weeks, prepare yourself. I am aware that when that response comes, you will be happy,” he said.

Martins Azubuike, the South East representative at the Federal Capital Civil Service, framed the meeting as a consolidation exercise. “We are here to take voices from Abians through the delegation of 17 LGAs as representatives of the wards, leveraging the RHP and by extension the party,” he said.

Mascot Kalu pushes back

Not everyone was celebrating. Mascot Uzor Kalu, a governorship aspirant and younger brother of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, released a blistering statement rejecting the endorsement as an imposition plot.

“Let it be stated clearly and without ambiguity: any premeditated consensus arrangement orchestrated by the APC State Working Committee and stakeholders, without the participation of all aspirants contesting for the same position, is illegitimate, unacceptable, and null and void ab initio,” he said.

Mascot Kalu alleged that the stakeholders’ meeting was convened under the guise of a Tinubu re-election campaign event, but was really designed to hand the ticket to Benjamin Kalu without a proper primary. He warned that any such move “will be met with stiff and unequivocal resistance.”

The party denies everything

The Abia APC State Working Committee has denied making any endorsement. In a statement signed by publicity secretary Uche Aguoru, the party described Mascot Kalu’s allegations as “entirely false, misleading and without any basis.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, the State Working Committee has not endorsed any aspirant for the governorship ticket or for any elective position whatsoever,” the statement read. “The only endorsement collectively made remains that of President Bola Tinubu.”

The SWC, under chairman Chijioke Chukwu, pledged to give all aspirants a level playing field during primaries.

Why it matters

Abia is currently governed by Alex Otti of the Labour Party, and the APC sees the state as winnable in 2027. A fractured primary could undermine that ambition. Benjamin Kalu’s deputy speakership gives him national profile and access, but Mascot Kalu’s camp has deep local roots. If the party cannot reconcile the two factions before the primaries, the infighting could hand Otti an easier path to re-election.

The endorsement, the denial, and the counter-allegations all point to a party that is publicly united around Tinubu but privately at war over who gets to fly its flag in Abia.

Sources: Punch, Daily Post, Politics Nigeria, The Sun, ABN TV