In the complex dance of Nigerian politics, few figures have mastered the art of ambiguity like Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, the former governor of Abia State and now the Senator representing Abia North. Kalu’s recent political maneuvers raise serious questions about his loyalty, not only to the All Progressives Congress (APC) but to the strategic interests of the Southeast under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
During a recent national television interview, Kalu was asked to respond to Labour Party’s Peter Obi and his increasingly pointed criticisms of the Tinubu administration. One would expect a seasoned APC senator to rise in defense of his party and its president. Instead, Kalu offered a neutral, evasive stance: “I don’t want to talk about Peter Obi, he is my friend and my brother, and I also will not want to talk about governance in my state.”
This seemingly harmless deflection is anything but??? At a time when the Southeast is experiencing an ideological awakening within the APC, with programs like the Renewed Hope Partner, launched Deputy Speaker Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu to promote Tinubu’s achievements and build momentum for 2027. OUK’s silence and actions speak volumes.
More disturbing, however, is Kalu’s consistent pattern of public admiration and tacit endorsement of the Labour Party and its governor in Abia State. While APC faithful across the state are mobilizing to reclaim Abia from what the state chairman, Dr. Ononogbu, has boldly described as “a fraudulent and one-man show government,” Senator Kalu seems to be playing a different game altogether. His open support for a rival political party and its governor starkly contradicts his obligations as a senior APC figure and past leader of the state.
Let us not forget: this is the same Orji Uzor Kalu who cast a “VOID” vote for Tinubu in the 2023 general elections, apparently to show his disapproval for Tinubu’s candidacy, openly backed Senator Ahmed Lawan against Tinubu, and has since done little to galvanize support or promote Tinubu’s significant achievements. Now, as President Tinubu seeks to consolidate gains in the region and build a formidable path toward reelection in 2027, the party finds itself dealing not just with opposition from the outside but sabotage from within.
Why would a man of his political pedigree and rank work against the party’s interest in the state he once governed? Why is he not complementing the extraordinary efforts of Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who has emerged as a unifying force, bringing together stakeholders, women, youth, entrepreneurs, and traditional rulers in a shared vision of regional growth and national relevance?
Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu’s Renewed Hope Partners program has become the lifeline of APC’s political rebirth in the Southeast. Through this grassroots-driven initiative, Benjamin Kalu is doing what Orji Kalu has failed to do, building trust, galvanizing support, promoting government achievements, and preparing a formidable platform for President Tinubu’s 2027 reelection.
Instead of joining forces with the Deputy Speaker or leveraging his stature to attract federal appointments and infrastructure to Abia, like we have seen Benjamin Kalu doing, Senator Kalu has chosen to undermine the momentum the party is building. His posturing now suggests one of two things: either he is acting out of political bitterness, or he is leading the southeastern faction of a proposed coalition aimed at weakening the APC from within.
This is not the time for the APC and President Tinubu to entertain political chameleons.
As the Renewed Hope Partners initiative continues to gain traction and inspire a wave of grassroots mobilization, the party must decide, it will rise to defend the future it is trying to build in Abia and the Southeast. Because no matter how powerful a Trojan horse appears, its purpose remains singular: to destroy from within.
Politics, they say, is about interest. But when those interests come at the cost of collective progress, transparency, and loyalty, the party at both the state and national levels must ask the tough questions.
“Is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu truly with us or against us”?
Maxwell Ezechukwu
Is a member of the APC, Abia Central
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