The battle for Abia has begun as former governors Senator Orji Kalu and Senator Theodore Orji joined forces in Umuahia, plotting a political comeback orchestrated squarely at Governor Alex Otti ahead of the 2027 general election.
The high-stakes meeting on Friday brought together political heavyweights who held power in Abia State between 2009 and 2023, in what is the re-emergence of an old power bloc determined to reclaim control.
Addressing the gathering, Kalu said the meeting was convened to unite former leaders under a common front and insisted their legacy in Abia could not be erased.
“Leadership is a relay race. I finished and handed over to Senator T. A. Orji, and he finished and handed over to Okezie Ikpeazu. So one person cannot come and say we did nothing and that we are not relevant.
“If we did nothing, where would our people be living now? Our meeting is not to discuss what cannot be said outside. Our main purpose is that one person must go down in 2027,” Punchonline quoted him as saying.
The former governor, who represents Abia North in the Senate, urged members of the group, called “The Team,” to remain resolute, noting that the platform cuts across party lines and welcomes allies from all political camps.
Tensions peaked when former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Chinedum Orji, moved a motion calling for the expansion of the alliance to include all political office holders, including National Assembly members, who served between 2009 and 2023.
The motion was adopted unanimously, cementing a broadened coalition as Abia’s political temperature rises, and the countdown to 2027 officially begins.
