By Innocent Sunday Okeke
The recent coordinated attempts by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu to pressure Governor Alex Otti into defecting from the Labour Party to the All Progressives Congress (APC) should be condemned in the strongest terms. This desperate ploy is not just an assault on Governor Otti’s administration but a brazen insult to the collective will of Abians who voted for a new direction after enduring over two decades of failure, deception, and outright betrayal under the leadership of these same men and their cronies. It represents the clearest indication yet that the old political order, sensing its own irrelevance, is determined to use every weapon at its disposal; blackmail, manipulation, and propaganda, to pull Abia back into the cesspool of corrupt governance.
These men, whose records in public office are littered with scandal and ineptitude, are now arrogantly attempting to dictate the direction of a government that has been performing far above anything they ever offered the people of Abia. The people must not allow it. The Labour Party must not concede. And Governor Otti must not retreat from his course.
What Orji Kalu and Benjamin Kalu seek to achieve is to drag Abia State back into the shadows of political decay and stagnation. Their campaign of blackmail is rooted in fear; fear of a rising Labour Party that has awakened the political consciousness of the people and fear of a performing governor who has refused to play by the tired scripts of godfatherism and corruption. But let it be made unequivocally clear: the people of Abia will resist this blackmail. The Labour Party will not retreat, and Governor Alex Otti will not be lured into a party that has become the embodiment of all that is wrong with Nigeria.
*In a recent remark that exposes the sinister undertone of their campaign, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is “not happy” with Abia State because it is not under the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC). This statement, shocking in its arrogance, reveals the depth of the desperation at the federal level to wrest control of Abia—not through performance, policy, or persuasion, but through coercion and conquest. What kind of democracy considers it a grievance that a state exercised its right to elect leaders from a different party? If the president of a multi-party nation is truly “unhappy” with a state for voting differently, then democracy is under siege. This statement should not be taken lightly. It strongly suggests that the federal machinery may already be setting the stage to compromise the integrity of future elections in Abia. The people of Abia must be vigilant. This is not just political rhetoric, it is a dog whistle to federal institutions to begin tilting the scale, manipulating security, and corrupting the electoral process ahead of the 2027 gubernatorial elections. The stage is being set for a repeat of past electoral sabotage, and only a united, alert citizenry can stop it.*
Orji Uzor Kalu should be the last man to advise anyone on governance or political loyalty. His eight-year tenure as governor of Abia State remains one of the darkest periods in the history of the state. Under his leadership, Abia became a mockery of what a state ought to be. Roads collapsed, healthcare disintegrated, education was neglected, and civil servants groaned under the weight of unpaid salaries. Rather than build institutions, Kalu built empires of self-interest and political thuggery. His administration left scars that are yet to fully heal, and it is a tragic irony that such a man now pontificates on how the state should be governed.
Not only did Orji Kalu fail Abia as governor, he continued the tradition of mediocrity as a senator, offering nothing of note to national discourse or the advancement of his state. Alongside him, Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu took the baton of failure and ran even further into the abyss. For 24 years, Abia was subjected to a carousel of inept leaders who only cared for their personal empires and political dynasties. From the looting of public funds to the institutionalization of poverty, their legacies are littered with the ruins of abandoned projects, broken dreams, and systemic decay.
Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, has proven no different. The 10th National Assembly, under his watch as a key principal officer, is widely regarded as the most clueless, visionless, and inefficient legislative body in the history of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. At a time when Nigeria urgently needs a vibrant legislature to challenge executive excesses, Benjamin Kalu and his colleagues have surrendered their conscience, their mandate, and their voices to the whims of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They have transformed the legislative chamber from a constitutional check into a loyal arm of the presidency. One of the most appalling demonstrations of this dysfunction was the National Assembly's complicity in the illegal and unconstitutional threat to impose a state of emergency in Rivers State—a matter clearly outside the bounds of democratic reasoning. Instead of upholding the law, Kalu and his fellow rubber-stamp legislators chose to endorse executive impunity.
Under his tenure, the National Assembly has lost its independence and prestige. It no longer stands as a guardian of democracy but as a ceremonial gathering of sycophants and cheerleaders, content to rubber-stamp anti-people policies and disastrous economic frameworks that have plunged Nigerians deeper into hardship.
Benjamin Kalu’s loyalty is not to the Nigerian people, nor to the constitutional oath he swore, but to the narrow interests of the ruling cabal. His silence in the face of rising dictatorship, his complicity in legislative timidity, and his active collaboration with Tinubu’s overreach have made the House of Representatives a shadow of itself. Today, the Nigerian legislature lacks credibility and moral authority because men like Kalu have chosen political survival over institutional integrity. The legislature has failed to interrogate the economic policies that have weakened the naira, impoverished the masses, and deepened debt dependency. It has failed to defend democracy, to check corruption, or to legislate with foresight. Instead, under Benjamin Kalu’s watch, Nigerians have seen a legislature that claps while the executive strangles the nation, one ill-advised policy at a time.
The APC that Kalu and Kalu are beckoning Governor Otti to join has failed Nigeria on every measurable scale. It is a party that rose to power on the wings of deception and has remained in power by suppressing dissent, mismanaging diversity, and perpetuating the worst form of elite conspiracy against the poor. Under APC’s leadership at the federal level, Nigeria has recorded some of its worst economic indicators in modern history. Inflation is at a generational high. The naira has become one of the weakest currencies in Africa. Insecurity has taken on new and terrifying dimensions, with no part of the country truly safe. From petroleum subsidy removal without structural reforms to reckless borrowing, arbitrary taxation, and pervasive corruption, the APC has proven to be a national tragedy. It is a party that governs without empathy, leads without a plan, and thrives on propaganda. For anyone to ask Governor Otti to abandon the people-oriented Labour Party and align with a failing regime is an insult not just to the governor but to the electorate who entrusted him with a sacred mandate for change.
But Governor Alex Otti is more assured of reelection under the Labour Party than under any other political platform. The Labour Party has emerged not just as an alternative force in Nigerian politics but as a movement of ideas, values, and purpose. It is the party that resonates with the aspirations of the people—especially the young, the marginalized, the workers, and the silent majority who have long been ignored. In Abia, the Labour Party has come to symbolize the rebirth of hope and the restoration of confidence in governance. Governor Otti's achievements which includes timely payment of salaries, massive road rehabilitation projects, digitization of public service operations, reform of local government finance, and transparency in procurement, have rekindled the people's trust in leadership. There is no justification for defecting to a party whose legacy in Abia and Nigeria is synonymous with suffering. In fact, any such move would be interpreted by the people as betrayal and could spell political suicide. Otti’s place is in Labour, and Labour is the political platform that excites and inspires Abians today.
Rather than scheming to destabilize the Labour-led government in Abia, Orji Kalu and Benjamin Kalu would do well to study its methods and emulate its people-first approach. If they are truly concerned about the progress of Abia State, they must abandon their fixation on political control and begin to serve the public good. They must stop being enemies of the state and start behaving like leaders who have the mandate of their people.
Mimiko, a former Labour Party governor in Ondo State remains a shining example of what governance should look like when anchored on the ideals of equity, justice, and development. His administration in Ondo State is still referenced today as a benchmark for developmental strides, especially in health and education. The same legacy is being built in Abia by Governor Otti, and it must be protected from the scavengers of failed politics.
Rather than scheming to destabilize the Labour-led government in Abia, Orji Uzor Kalu and Benjamin Kalu would do well to study its methods and emulate its people-first approach. They have a choice; either continue as saboteurs of progress or choose to align with the popular will and deliver true leadership in their respective roles. It is high time they abandoned the mindset of conquest and dominance and embraced the values of service, humility, and accountability. Governance is not a game of thrones; it is a call to serve. If Orji Kalu and Benjamin Kalu truly have the interests of Abians at heart, then they must stop behaving like political landlords of old and start functioning as servants of the people. Let them learn from the Labour Party's example that public office is not for empire building, but for the betterment of lives. Until then, they will remain enemies of the state and enemies of the progress that the people of Abia have long desired and are now beginning to enjoy under Labour Party stewardship.
To abandon Labour Party for APC is to return Abia to the age of darkness. It is to reopen the door to the very men who plunged the state into years of rot and regression. The people of Abia cannot afford such regression. They have tasted what real leadership feels like, and they are not ready to go back.
Politics is over. It is now time for governance. Let Orji Uzor Kalu and Benjamin Kalu hear it loud and clear, the blackmail against Governor Alex Otti will fail. The APC will not take Abia back into the wilderness.The Labour Party stands firm, and the people stand with it. The journey to a new Abia has begun, and there will be no turning back.
*Chief Innocent Sunday Okeke (Duru Agumba) DNS Labour Party wrote in from Abuja
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