Otti won’t be reelected, APC will produce next Abia governor — Ben Kalu

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ben Kalu, has boasted that All Progressives Congress (APC) will produce Abia State governor in 2027.

He said the Labour Party (LP) and Governor Alex Otti would not be allowed to govern the South-eastern state again.

Mr Otti was elected governor of Abia State under the LP platform during the 2023 general elections.

His election ended PDP’s over 20-year-old reign in the state.

Inaugurated on 29 May 2023, the governor’s first tenure will end by May 2027.

LP’s ‘last time’ in Abia

Mr Kalu, in an interview on Spin FM, a local radio station in Abia, said Mr Otti and his party will not clinch the position again in 2027.

A video clip of the interview has been circulating on various social media platforms.

The Abia State-born lawmaker is a member of the APC. He represents Bende Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

“This will be the last time that a Labour Party governor will govern Abia State. The next governor of Abia State will be APC governor. I say it without mincing words.

“We (Mr Otti and I) are friends. We work together, yes. But I will not be number six citizen of the country and another party will govern my state. The next election in 2027, APC governor will be there (Abia State),” he said.

Mr Kalu said he had told Governor Otti “publicly and privately” that his reelection would be resisted and that an APC candidate would emerge governor in Abia State in the forthcoming 2027 general election.

“How it will happen, I don’t know. But it will happen,” he maintained.

‘Abia must repay Tinubu’

The lawmaker said he is confident that an APC governor will emerge in Abia State in 2027 because President Bola Tinubu and the APC were working hard to achieve this.

“I am confident because we’re working hard. I am confident because my government is working hard. The President is working hard. And Abia will repay the president. A president that has given you the South-east Development Commission will be repaid.

“A president that is appointing Abians into his administration will be repaid. A president that is allowing the attraction of democracy dividends to Abia will be repaid.

“We’re not ungrateful people. Monkey will not work and Baboon will chop. APC will not help the state to be strong and then the Labour Party will take the credit. No,” he stated.

“APC will determine who becomes the next governor of Abia State. I don’t care who the person is, but one thing I know is that the party platform, APC, will be the next governor of Abia State. Go and write it somewhere.”

‘Abians will repay Otti instead,’ says LP Reps member

The spokesperson to Mr Otti, Ukoha Njoku, and the governor’s media aide, Ferdinand Ekeoma, did not respond to several calls seeking their comments.

Also, the LP spokesperson in Abia State, Jerry Njoku, did not respond to calls for his comments.

However, a member of the House of Representatives from Abia, Obi Aguocha, an LP member, has described the deputy speaker’s comments as “condescending, denigrating, and disrespectful” to the LP and Governor Otti.

Mr Aguocha represents Ikwuano-Umuahia North-Umuahia South Federal Constituency.

In a letter to Mr Kalu, which was forwarded to reporters on Monday, Mr Aguocha told the lawmaker that his election as deputy speaker does not confer on him “an audacity” to declare vacant the seat of the governor of Abia State in 2027.

“If your ambition is to become the governor of Abia State by 2027, it is your right, but make it plain rather than hiding yourself in the shadows of discontent and display of insincerity and intemperate political culture.

“But I assure you that as you want Abians to repay Tinubu for his good works, so shall Abians repay Alex Otti for his mammoth achievements come 2027. Alex Otti will be reelected governor of Abia State,” he told Mr Kalu.

“My Honourable colleague, you should know there’s no vacancy in Abia State in 2027.”

‘It’s your personal opinion,’ PDP chieftain tells deputy speaker

When contacted, a chieftain of the PDP in Abia State, John Kalu, said the deputy speaker’s comments were his personal opinion.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, Mr Kalu, a former commissioner for information in the state, argued that the PDP remains poised to wrestle power back in Abia State in 2027.

“On election day, people will definitely realise that PDP remains the number one party in Abia State. We’re actively working as of today to make sure that those things that did not go well for us in 2023 will be corrected, and we will move ahead,” he said.

READ ALSO: Newly inaugurated Abia PDP lawmaker speaks on alleged plan to defect to Labour Party

APC chances in South-east

The APC has not enjoyed a huge following in the South-east.

In the 2023 elections, for instance, the party failed to win significant votes from the region during the presidential and National Assembly elections.

The South-east, where the PDP had enjoyed dominance since 1999, fell to LP in 2023, with the party winning majority seats in the National Assembly and Houses of Assembly of some states in the region.