The ongoing war of words between the Abia State Government and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has intensified following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s failure to pay a scheduled working visit to the state.
Although the Presidency explained that the President’s last-minute decision to attend the burial of APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje’s mother in Plateau State caused the change in plans, the Abia government maintained that the cancellation was deliberate.
Tinubu’s repeated failure to visit has further fueled speculation about a looming political showdown between Kalu and Abia’s Labour Party (LP) governor, Dr. Alex Otti, in the 2027 governorship election.
Representing the President during the commissioning of several completed projects in Abia, Minister of Works David Umahi assured residents that Tinubu would personally visit the state before the end of the year. Umahi commended Governor Otti for his developmental strides, noting that the South-East had not experienced such progress in recent times. He added that the “Renewed Hope” administration had made significant funds available to state governors to drive infrastructure growth.
However, Kalu took exception to what he described as the Abia government’s failure to acknowledge the Federal Government’s contributions to the state’s development. He said the Commissioner for Information had consistently overlooked the Presidency’s role in ongoing infrastructure projects.
In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, Kalu urged President Tinubu to consider establishing a seaport in the South-East and to intervene in the demolition of properties owned by Igbo residents in Lagos State.
Responding, Governor Otti dismissed comparisons with Lagos, stating:
“I have no business with Lagos State. My competition is with China and Dubai. By the time I’m done with Aba, Lagos will look like a village.”
He emphasized that, unlike states “busy pulling down shops and frustrating traders,” his vision was to transform Aba into “Africa’s Dubai” — a global hub for commerce, innovation, and manufacturing.
Reacting to both the failed presidential visit and Kalu’s criticisms, the governor’s media aide, Dannie Ubani, described the Tinubu administration as “the worst democratic nightmare Ndi Igbo have faced since 1999.”
In a Facebook post, Ubani lamented that under Tinubu’s so-called “messianic” leadership, the entire South-East was allotted only five ministerial positions, while a single South-West state received four. He challenged Kalu and other APC loyalists to name any tangible federal projects or benefits the region had received, dismissing Kalu’s call for the state to “give credit where it is due” as self-serving.
Meanwhile, sources within the Abia State chapter of the APC disclosed that Kalu has been tipped to contest the 2027 governorship election, following Otti’s refusal to join the ruling party.
