Reps Dep Speaker, Orji Kalu Brother Zoned Out Of Abia Governorship Race

Byy Suleiman Anyalewechi 

The Abia State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress, APC, on Thursday, April, 30, 2026,  appear  to be  headed irretrievably for ruins.

This follows what has been described as a controversial zoning arrangement that, at once, killed and buried the much anticipated gubernatorial ambition of the duo of Rt Hon Benjamin Okezie Kalu,the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Mascot Uzor Kalu, the younger sibling of former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, now a Senator.

The leadership of the APC Abia, in a statement from Uche Aguoru, its spokesperson, informed that the party has zoned the Governorship seat to the Abia Central Senatorial District, where incumbent Governor Alex Otti hails from.

The party emphasized that the decision was taken to promote equity, justice, and fair play.

The statement noted that the State, since the advent of the current democratic arrangement in 1999, has operated on a subsisting power sharing formula among the three Senatorial Districts of the State.

“This is to notify our esteemed members, and the general public in Abia State that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has zoned its Governorship ticket in the forthcoming elections to the Abia Central Senatorial District.

“This notice serves to guide our members ,and intending aspirants in the purchase of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms.

“This decision is taken in the interest of equity, justice and fair play ,and in line with the party’s commitment to balanced representation across the three Senatorial Zones” APC stated.

The party, therefore, appealed to all aspirants and stakeholders from other zones to respect the decision of the party in the “spirit of sportsmanship” 

But in a swift reaction late Thursday evening, Mascot Kalu who earlier in the week had purchased the N50 million Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, vehemently rejected the zoning arrangement, and described the decision as “frivolous, reckless, unconstitutional, unacceptable and entirely alien to all known precedents of the APC in Abia state.

He, also, questioned the actual motives behind the purported zoning formula, insisting that the decision was unilaterally taken by some vested interests out to sabotage the peace of the APC in the State.

“Our attention has been drawn to press statement issued by Uche Aguoru ,the Abia state Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress APC, announcing a purported zoning arrangement by the State Working Committee SWC, which allegedly ceded the party’s Governorship ticket to the Abia Central Senatorial District and discourages intending aspirants from purchasing expression of interest forms.

“While the authenticity of this claim remains highly questionable, we have deliberately described it as ‘purported’ given that most members of Abia APC SWC are currently not in the state and have not convened any formal meeting in the past week.

“Such an arrangement is not only frivolous, but also reckless, unconstitutional and entirely alien to all known precedents of the party in Abia State.

“It cannot be taken unilaterally.by the SWC without the consent of all stakeholders at an expanded caucus meeting.

“We, the Mascot Uzor Kalu Campaign Organization, unequivocally reject this purported zoning arrangement in its entirety, and will not accept it under any circumstances.

“Let it be made abundantly clear that any surreptitious attempt by self-serving elements within the party to weaponize the SWC in an attempt to frustrate the Governorship ambition of our principal, Mascot Uzor Kalu will be met with hardcore, lawful and unyielding resistance”, the MUK media team stated.

Instructively, the arraignment appears to be equally strange to the House of Representatives Deputy Speaker who has been enmeshed in a festering struggle for the control of the soul of the APC in the state with Senator Orji Kalu.

Until the latest zoning controversy, the duo of Benjamin Kalu and Senator Kalu had separately claimed to have been given presidential marching orders to oversee  peaceful and hitch free APC primaries in Abia state,as well as to lead the party. 

Curiously too, Benjamin Kalu had, before now, been widely perceived and or created an image of the most vociferous and visible potential  challenger to the Governor Otti in 2027.

But stunned, the Benjamin Okezie Kalu Movement BOK Movement, in a statement on Thursday night, while expressing deep shock and disappointment vehemently rejected the zoning arrangement.

In the statement issued by its Director -General, Hon Emma Trump’s Eke, the BOK Movement described the decision as “hasty, ill-timed, and lacking broad consultations with key stakeholders across the three Senatorial Districts.

“The Movement received the news with shock and disbelief. While we respect the right of the party to take decision-making, zoning of such a critical office requires wide consultations, inclusiveness and strategic reasoning.

“This unilateral approach undermines internal democracy ,and risks alienating loyal party members from other zones.

“We believe in equity and zoning. However, equity must not be used as a tool to shut out capable hands or to serve narrow interests.

“At a time we should be consolidating, this decision is capable of causing disaffection among our members. 

“We view the statement as a deliberate act to systematically edge out aspirants from Abia North, especially the Deputy Speaker from the race”, the BOK Movement stated.