Abia PDP Governorship Primary Election: John Okiyi Kalu’s False Narrative By Enyinnaya Apollos 

 

I write in my capacity as the State Vice Chairman, Abia South, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Every word and every line in this write-up represents my truth, my actions, and my convictions. I stand firmly by everything I did throughout the process, and if faced with the same circumstances again, I would act no differently. While I respect people, I will never fear anyone.

 

I ordinarily would not have bothered to respond to yet another round of post-primary bitterness and revisionist storytelling. But because Obingwa and the entire Abia South, which I lead politically within the party structure, were copiously mentioned and indirectly maligned, silence would amount to cowardice and complicity. I cannot allow falsehood to become history simply because it is repeated loudly on social media.

 

I have carefully read the article authored by John Okiyi Kalu titled “Abia PDP Gubernatorial Primary Election: Deceit and Betrayal Are Not Virtues.” As expected, it was filled with half-truths, selective narratives, emotional blackmail, and attempts to rewrite events that many of us witnessed firsthand.

 

Though he carefully avoided mentioning my name directly, the allusions were obvious. Those who were part of the process understand exactly who he was referring to. I therefore consider it necessary to place the facts before party members and the public.

 

The first question every reasonable and objective person should ask after reading Kalu’s claims is this: Was he ever truly serious about his governorship ambition?

 

Because, with due respect, only an unserious aspirant seeking the office of Governor of Abia State would approach such a serious political contest with the level of complacency, entitlement, and detachment that John Okiyi Kalu displayed throughout the process.

 

Let me state this clearly and without ambiguity: former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, never instructed anybody to deliver any particular aspirant. At no point did he impose, endorse, or openly campaign for any of the aspirants. His position remained consistent from the beginning: there were three aspirants, and all of them should go to the field and test their popularity within the party structure.

 

In fact, there were several attempts by different individuals to pressure him into openly backing one aspirant against the others, but he refused. Even when Kalu took his nomination forms to the former governor for photographs, Dr. Ikpeazu declined and told him clearly that he could not publicly take photographs with one aspirant while others were still in the race. That is the truth. It was Kalu himself who told Amah that the former Governor refused to take pictures with him and his forms.

 

As for whatever understanding or disagreement may have existed between Kalu and the State Chairman, Elder Abraham Amah, I honestly do not concern myself with that. What I know, and what is verifiable, is that all three aspirants made commitments to the party leadership regarding what they intended to do for the party if supported to emerge victorious. However, all of them insisted that such promises would only be fulfilled after the primary election.

 

Some time in the month of May, the State Chairman informed members of the State Working Committee (SWC) that two governorship aspirants would be coming to meet with the committee and formally declare their intentions.

 

It was May 25th, 2026. The first aspirant to appear before the SWC was Chief Olugu Kalu Ugba. He came personally to the party secretariat, addressed the SWC directly, formally declared his intention to contest, and sought the support of the party leadership to become the PDP flag bearer.

 

Hours later, after much waiting, John Okiyi Kalu eventually arrived with a large entourage, carrying PDP flags and dressed in customized PDP attire with his image boldly inscribed on it. From his appearance, one would naturally expect a serious political declaration.

 

But to the surprise of everyone present, Kalu merely informed the SWC that he had come to “have breakfast” with them. He never formally declared his governorship ambition before the committee. He never sought support. He never presented himself as an aspirant in clear terms. Instead, he said he would return another day.

 

The Chairman himself admitted he was shocked that Kalu failed to formally declare his ambition before the SWC.

 

Later, we heard that Kalu claimed he acted based on what the former governor allegedly advised him to do. Whether that is true or not, I cannot say. What I know is that politics is not won through assumptions, pride, or mystical expectations. Politics requires engagement, consultation, humility, and hard work.

 

Subsequently, Kelechi Anosike appeared before an enlarged SWC meeting where he formally declared his intention and interacted extensively with party leaders.

 

Till today, it remains a fact that John Okiyi Kalu never returned to the SWC to formally discuss his governorship aspiration. Instead, he spent more time dropping the names of party leaders within and outside the state whom he claimed had already agreed that he would emerge as the consensus candidate.

 

Unfortunately, politics does not work that way.

When the time came for the purchase of nomination forms, Chief Ugba personally came to the party secretariat in Umuahia to obtain his forms. Kelechi Anosike personally went to Wadata Plaza, the national headquarters of the PDP in Abuja, to collect his forms after payment.

 

Again, John Okiyi Kalu did not come personally to pick up his forms. He sent someone else to collect them on his behalf. While the other aspirants returned their completed forms in person, Kalu once again used a proxy. Only an unserious aspirant, one merely playing to the gallery, would not be bold and confident enough to personally collect and submit his nomination forms.

 

One of his allies, Dom Nik, wrote on Facebook: “They even attempted to deny JOK a nomination form. When they did, they gave him an incomplete form.” How can a supposed aspirant who neither came to pick up his form nor return it himself be feeding such a false narrative? This goes to show how trivially they treat a process that is supposed to produce a governor of a state.

 

These may appear like little details, but politics is built on symbols, relationships, physical presence, and respect for process. Serious aspirants understand this.

 

While Ugba and Anosike moved round the state consulting stakeholders, meeting party leaders, and engaging delegates, Kalu was largely absent from the political field. He appeared more active on social media than within the actual structures of the party.

 

A few days before the primary election, Kalu eventually contacted me and informed me that he wanted to meet selected PDP officials from Abia South at my house in Isiko.

 

He specifically requested that the meeting include the six LGA chairmen from Abia South, one key stakeholder from each LGA, the Zonal Chairman, Zonal Secretary, Youth Leader, Women Leader, as well as members of the SWC, SEC, and the Abia South Zonal Executive.

 

I informed him that the category of persons he listed officially amounted to about 25 influential party leaders. I also advised him that meetings of that nature required proper planning, logistics, hospitality, and basic political courtesy.

 

I further told him that the scale of his preparation would determine whether the meeting would hold in my house in Isiko or whether it would be wiser to move it to the Obingwa Party Office near Aba, especially considering that some attendees would be travelling from far-flung areas like Ukwa.

 

Kalu assured me he was fully prepared and would come with food, drinks, and water for the meeting. Only him can truly explain how “prepared” he eventually came.

 

In contrast, when Kelechi Anosike requested to meet the PDP structure in Abia South, he specifically asked for an enlarged gathering involving: The 12 SWC members from the zone, One ZEC member, 108 LGA officers,
And 65 Ward Chairmen. That almost 200 party officials.

 

That meeting eventually held successfully at the Obingwa Party Office.

At the end of the day, Abia South supported and voted for those who came to them, interacted with them, respected them, and sought their support directly, not those who relied on dropping names, claiming invisible endorsements, and expecting automatic loyalty based on entitlement.

 

Both Ugba and Anosike met repeatedly with the SWC, LGA Chairmen, and party stakeholders. John Okiyi Kalu did not.

 

So, with all due respect, how does anyone expect party members to support an aspirant who barely engaged them?

 

 

Party members are human beings, not political ornaments. They supported those who spoke to them, consulted them, respected them, and carried them along. They refused to surrender to propaganda, intimidation, entitlement mentality, and endless name-dropping.

 

I honestly cannot understand his claims of “betrayal.” His allegations of bribery are baseless, unfounded, and merely designed to create public sympathy after a political defeat.

 

As I stated earlier, all the aspirants made promises to appreciate LGA Chairmen and members of the State Working Committee (SWC) after the primary election. In fact, even the Ohafia LGA Chairman, who was appointed by Kalu himself, was among the beneficiaries of the same arrangement he now chooses to label as bribery.

 

It is therefore both contradictory and dishonest for him to celebrate an arrangement when he expected to benefit from it, only to suddenly condemn it after failing to secure victory.

 

If Kalu truly has respect for his allies in Obingwa, can he tell the public about the efforts he made to reach out to them and discuss his aspirations? Did he make any attempt to engage Obingwa party leaders and stakeholders, apart from meeting with a few selected Abia South party officials? You cannot ignore people and still expect their support.

 

Throughout the process, Kalu consistently invoked the name of the former governor, telling people he had already been “anointed” as the consensus candidate. Yet, he neglected the most important aspect of politics: meeting people and earning their trust.

 

Even from his own claims, it is obvious that he became relaxed and complacent after the State Chairman allegedly told him that he had already been chosen even before the process began. That, in itself, suggests that he expected the process to be compromised in his favour.

 

Unfortunately for him, politics does not work that way. No serious democratic process can be built on assumptions, entitlement, or the belief that victory should simply be handed over without consultation, engagement, and hard work.

 

In fact, if there was any plan to give him the ticket, that alone should have made him work harder and consult more widely.

 

Kalu only visited Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, the BOT Chairman of the party, on the eve of the primary, which happened to be a day before Mao’s birthday. Kalu and Mao are from the same zone of the state, Abia North. If he was serious, how come he never visited Mao to discuss his aspiration until the eve of the election, at a time when Mao was already backing another aspirant? This goes to show how unserious his aspiration truly was.

 

Now that the primaries are over, instead of reflecting on obvious strategic failures, he has chosen the easier path of dragging people online, weaponizing falsehood, and attempting to blackmail party leaders who simply exercised their democratic right to support the aspirant they believed was more prepared, more accessible, and more serious.

 

Politics is not won on Facebook.
Governorship is not inherited through entitlement. And party structures are not conquered through propaganda.

 

I will stop here for now and hope that I am not pushed to speak any further on this, because if I do…!