BEN KALU ABUSING NO. 6 POWER TO MUSCLE OUT MASCOT KALU, HENRY IKOH WHEN APC IS RIPE TO TAKE OVER ABIA
By Agwu Obasi Emeaba
Abia APC is walking into the 2027 cycle with an early but dangerous
tension for a possible implosion.
Recently, Abia APC stakeholders from across the three senatorial districts of the state endorsed Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, for the governorship ticket against the two other governorship hopefuls.
The other two that were schemed out in clandestine maneuvers included Mascot Uzor Kalu, a businessman and kid brother to the APC chieftain and financier, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, while the next is Chief Henry Ikoh, an industrialist and former minister. Both aspirants have continued to muster the needed force in mobilising huge membership for the party in Abia.
Regrettably, the selection process and endorsement of Ben Kalu has further widened the cracks and divisions in the party. The real question is not whether Ben Kalu has become visible nationally, but whether he is the right person to carry
a party that is still trying to consolidate itself in Abia State.
Many stalwarts in the party now complain that he is holding meetings, consultations and congresses, leaving out Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, and the other two governorship aspirants – men who once mentored him and helped build the political ground on which he stands. That kind of political
amnesia, if left unchecked, does not build a party. It weakens it.
The strongest case against the conspiracy to hand over the governorship ticket to Ben Kalu has to do with the lack of fairness. Equity and good conscience demand that he should remain in
the House of Representatives for now, while Mascot Uzor Kalu or Chief
Henry Ikoh takes a serious shot at the governorship. Both men appear
more battle ready for Abia’s hard political terrain. Ben Kalu, in contrast, still looks like a politician, whose national profile is
growing faster than his readiness for a governorship fight.
There is also the question of justice to party loyalty. It would be radically unfair for APC to hand the governorship ticket to Ben Kalu, while denying the same to Mascot Uzor Kalu or Chief Henry Ikoh – men who have laboured for the party, built election structures, funded campaigns, expanded membership, and kept the APC
flame burning, even in difficult seasons. A party cannot reward late arrival over long service and then expect peace within from those who did the heavy lifting. Even more damaging would be the political cost.
Denying Mascot or Ikoh the ticket would almost certainly be counterproductive because it risks robbing APC of the financial, technical and political support of Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, while Chief Henry Ikoh could also look the other way even with his large grassroots support.
In Abia politics, structure matters, loyalty matters, and real numbers matter. A governorship race is not won by slogans alone. It is won by networks, trust, financing, ground soldiers and the ability to unite key blocs under one banner.
That is why critics say that for Ben Kalu to continue to discountenance Orji Uzor
Kalu’s political structures in Abia would be the surest route to destroying APC’s chances at every level of the 2027 polls in the state. And, assuming the party fractures at the top, the collapse will not stop at governorship. It can have ripple effect through the House of Assembly, House of Representatives and every other contest on the ballot. The fear is that one man’s ambition could drag the party toward a complete electoral cataclysm.
The criticism becomes sharper because many party loyalists insist that
Ben Kalu’s own 2023 House of Representatives victory depended heavily
on the support, backing and financing of Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu. Looking at the development from that prism, it becomes obvious that trying to sideline the same political family, its structures and loyalists now looks less like strategy but more
like ingratitude. For right thinking APC members, that is not the conduct of a man prepared to unify a state. Rather, it is the conduct of a man burning down bridges before reaching the river.
For a party faithful, who is not seeking any office and cares more about APC’s success than personal gain, the message is clear. The earlier the state working committee resolves this matter, the better. As the saying goes, “a stitch in time saves nine”.
If the party leadership wants a candidate who can hold the APC family together and reduce internal acrimony, Mascot Uzor Kalu remains the stronger political bet.
Alternatively, if it wants a businessman with industrial credibility and a message rooted in productivity, Chief Henry Iko is equally a better fit.
What Abia APC must not do is to hand it’s future to a flag bearer that may satisfy a personal ambition today and destroy the party’s prospects tomorrow.
Agwu Obasi Emeaba is a political commentator based in Umuahia, Abia State.
