• You lack capacity to challenge Otti in 2027, kinsman tells Kalu
• Tinubu knows evil men, gov tells Deputy Speaker
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has been called upon to focus on the governance of Abia State, instead of dissipating energy on matters relating to the growth of other countries.
Meanwhile, Abia Liaison Officer at the National Assembly, Iheanyi Chinasa, has cautioned House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, over his public criticisms of Governor Alex Otti.
On his part, Otti also slammed Kalu over criticisms against his administration.
At a briefing in Abuja, yesterday, All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders under the aegis of the Abia Interest Association (ABIA) led by Eze Chikamnayo, remarked that it behoves Obi to beam his searchlights on the governance of Abia, which is the only LP-controlled state in the country.
Obi, while on a five-day visit to Indonesia to understudy the country, met with high-ranking stakeholders, including former Indonesian Minister Agung Laksono; former Vice President, Muhammad Jusuf Kalla; and Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions, Yandri Susanto, where discussions centred on critical areas including security, education, healthcare and poverty alleviation.
The former Anambra State governor was particularly impressed by Indonesia’s progress, noting that the country’s per capita income rose from $1,136 in 2004 to approximately $5,000 in 2024, while Nigeria’s remained around $1,000. Indonesia’s Human Development Index (HDI) also improved from medium to high, whereas Nigeria’s remains low, he noted.
Abia stated: “If we talk about accountability at the federal level and we refuse to talk about it at the state and local council levels, we make ourselves hypocrites and it undermines the essence of good governance in Nigeria.
“We have a message for Obi. He is gallivanting to Indonesia, going to India, and even going to Egypt to look for model on how he thinks Nigeria should be governed. He should stop the hypocrisy. You don’t need to go to Indonesia or anywhere in the world. Obi should go to Abia and ask Otti how the N54 billion meant for education has been taken for Smart Schools and no single school is to be found.”
According to ABIA, it is shameful that the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, went to Abia to commission a refurbished hall and less than 20 kilometres of a few streets and one road despite the over N1.5 trillion that accrued to Abia under the President Bola Tinubu’s refund programme.
IN a statement, yesterday, Chinasa, the Deputy Speaker’s kinsman, argued that Kalu “lacks the capacity, track record and political standing” to challenge Otti in the 2027 governorship race.
He also criticised the Deputy Speaker for using Tinubu’s recent visit to the state as a platform to attack the governor.
Kalu had remarked at a reception for the President at Enyimba Stadium, Aba, that the state’s development was not commensurate with the funds it received and suggested that the President, rather than the Governor, deserved credit for the progress.
Otti, in a statement yesterday, by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, described Kalu’s remarks as lies.
Accusing the Deputy Speaker of seeking relevance from Tinubu’s government, Otti said the President “knows traitors and sycophants when he sees them; hence it is difficult to deceive him with lies and incitement.
Countering Kalu’s claim on allocation, the governor said, “Abia’s 2025 year-to-date Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) receipts (eight months), including local councils’, stand at N125 billion.
Meanwhile, if we were to go by Kalu’s false claim of a monthly sum of N38 billion, it would have stood at N304 billion. Should a Deputy Speaker of a federal legislature be associated with such bare-faced lies?”
