Former Deputy Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly and a APC chieftain in the state, Dr Cosmos Ndukwe, has responded to UK-based political and financial commentator Eke Ako following criticism over his abandonment of the party’s 2027 governorship candidate, Eric Opah.
Ndukwe, who defended his loyalty to the All Progressives Congress (APC), maintained that he had neither lobbied for a political appointment nor offered money to secure the position of deputy governorship candidate in the state.
The exchange comes as the political polarization within the Abia APC over the emergence of Opah, an aspirant of Ngwa extraction, as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election continues to simmer.
In his response to Ako, Ndukwe insisted that he never approached Opah to seek the opportunity to serve as his running mate, challenging anyone with contrary information to produce evidence.
“Your brother knows too well I Rt. Hon Cosmos Ndukwe Ph.D never approached him to give me the opportunity to deputize him,” he wrote.
He added that he neither lobbied for the position nor paid anyone to be considered for the ticket.
“I never lobbied and never give anyone a dime to be so chosen. If there is anyone who can challenge this let’s stake 5m.”
Ndukwe further argued that he remained a loyal party member and that any decision concerning his possible inclusion on the ticket was a matter between the party leadership and its candidate.
“I am a loyal party man, if the party submitted my name and it was rejected that was between him and the party structure not my wish.”
The APC chieftain also disclosed that he was outside Nigeria when the decision on the deputy governorship candidate was made, insisting that Opah announced his choice without his involvement.
“I was away overseas when the issue of deputy was resolved and he announced his choice all alone, Go and verify!”
Ndukwe’s response followed a post by Ako, who questioned why APC stakeholders and stalwarts, particularly members from the Abia North District, would appear reluctant to rally behind Opah if he was genuinely given the party’s ticket to succeed.
However, in a counter-reaction, Ndukwe argued that the emergence of a candidate should ordinarily attract the support of party members and stakeholders, warning against what he described as divisive political conduct.
“One Unkown tree cannot make a forest,” Ako wrote, stressing that no individual could build a successful political movement in isolation.
He also criticised the alleged preparation and announcement of a campaign council without broader consultation, arguing that such an approach should not be interpreted as evidence that a particular section of the state was working against the candidate.
“You cannot sit in your house alone, draft a Campaign Council list and announce it, and call it party or a section of Abia North working against you.”
Ndukwe urged Ako to avoid what he described as ethnic sentiment and political ignorance, adding that political experience was necessary to understand the dynamics of party organisation and coalition-building.
He also invoked the example of Uganda’s former leader Idi Amin Dada, warning the APC against repeating what he called a political mistake.
“The APC cannot afford another Idiamin Dada mistake this early.”
MUK TV recalls that Ndukwe, whose name was included in the APC Presidential Campaign Council, had in a now-deleted celebratory Facebook post following the council’s inauguration described the political arrangement in Abia as a “galaxy coalition.”
In the post, he reportedly suggested that his political family could support the re-election of President Bola Tinubu while also delivering support for incumbent Abia State Governor Alex Otti, provided Otti backed Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
The reported position has added another dimension to questions surrounding Ndukwe’s political loyalties and the direction of the APC’s campaign in Abia.
Interestingly, Ndukwe is associated with the political camp of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, whose political structure was instrumental in the emergence of Opah as the APC’s 2027 governorship candidate.
Opah’s emergence has also generated discussion among party members over the process that produced him and the level of support he can command across the party’s various blocs.
