By EricJames Ochigbo
Some political groups operating in Abia have endorsed the governorship candidate of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Chief Mascot Kalu ahead of the March 11 governorship election in the state.
The group included a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia led by former Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Dr. Uche Ogah and the Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK) Movement.
In separate statements, the groups said that Uzor is most prepared and better qualified to govern the state.
The Abia State Chairman of OUK, Mr Ojisi Ogbaja, urged the members to vote massively for the APP governorship candidate on Saturday.
He said that the decision to endorse the Kalu came after careful deliberations and consultations with decision-makers and opinion leaders from diverse parts of the state.
Ogbaja described Kalu as a principled leader with the right public service credentials to lead Abia at a such a critical time when the state needed experienced, skillful, stable hands at the helm.
“Chief Mascot Kalu, from Abia North Senatorial District and favoured by the Abia Charter of Equity is the most prepared candidate to succeed Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
“He is not a desperate politician, but someone with a genuine heart for service and our mandate is to continue to engage with like minds across the three district to see the need to have a great governor like him.
“We need to build a strong Abia, a state run on high values of integrity, hard work, and justice for the progress of all.
“No one represents these ideals better than the APP candidate and that is why we are confident he is the one to lead Abia into new dawn come 2023,” he said.
In a related development, a faction of the APC in the state, says it has adopted the APP candidate after diligent consultations.
In a statement, the Chairman of the faction, Chief Goldie Nwagbara said that Kalu had no “bashed antecedent”.
“We have considered everything including the Abia Charter of equity; it is right to be fair to all zones and it is the turn of Abia North to produce a governor.
“We also studied his manifesto and character; we looked at his antecedents and he stood out among others,” he said.
Nwagbara said that the faction concluded that the decision on the leadership of Abia should not be by party.
According to him, we are members of APC but we and all members of our party will vote for APP on Saturday.
He said that Kalu is the hope of the people of Abia in the quest for liberation from the shackles of ineffective and inefficient governance.