Former NASS member predicts APC will lose the 2027 Abia gubernatorial poll

By Steve Oko

UMUAHIA – Hon. Mezie Chiekwe Esiaga, a former House of Representatives member and one of the founding fathers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, warned that the party could face a disastrous result in the 2027 Abia governorship election if it does not reverse the outcome of its controversial primary.

Speaking at a media chat in Umuahia, the former lawmaker described the current path of the APC as dangerous, suggesting that the party might suffer an even more humiliating defeat in 2027 than it did in 2023.

Esiaga dismissed the primary that produced the party’s governorship candidate as a “complete sham” and urged the APC to hand the ticket to former Minister of State for Science and Technology, Chief Henry Ikoh. He said Ikoh had spent years building and sustaining the party in the state.

He expressed surprise at the sudden emergence of Mr. Eric Opah as a governorship aspirant just days before the primary, noting that many long‑standing party members were unaware of Opah’s involvement in APC activities.

“As one of the founding fathers of APC in Abia, I saw Eric Opah for the first time on May 14, a few hours before the primaries at a meeting in Umuahia where he was introduced as a governorship aspirant. To the best of my knowledge, he had not spent up to two weeks in the party before seeking its highest office in the state,” Esiaga said.

He questioned the basis on which Opah emerged as the party’s standard bearer, noting that the businessman had recently praised the performance of incumbent Governor Alex Otti and indicated that his kinsmen in Lagos planned to honour the governor.

“How can someone who only a few months ago publicly praised the governor and celebrated his achievements suddenly become the person APC is presenting to challenge that same governor? That is the contradiction I cannot understand,” he said.

The APC elder statesman argued that, following the withdrawal of the second major aspirant, Chief Mascot Uzor Kalu, the ticket should naturally go to Ikoh, whom he described as a tested party loyalist with the experience, network and political structure to challenge for power.

He further noted that Ikoh, who also serves as the Abia State Renewed Hope Ambassador, has grassroots followership across the state.

Esiaga said that refusing to give the APC ticket to the former Minister would repeat the mistakes that led to the party’s poor showing in the 2023 governorship election.

“I am not a prophet and my father was not a prophet, but I will say this: I warned in 2022 about what would happen in 2023, when APC ticket was given to Ikechi Emenike who was not a popular candidate, and my prediction came to pass. If Henry Ikoh is not on the ballot, history will repeat itself and the outcome may be worse than what APC experienced in the last election,” he warned.

Esiaga revealed that he had planned to write to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, seeking his intervention to prevent what he described as a looming political catastrophe for the APC in Abia.

“This is not about personal interest. It is about saving our party from another avoidable defeat. The leadership must act before it is too late,” he stated.

Aggrieved members have continued to demand a review of the party’s governorship primary in Abia, insisting that if the controversy surrounding the exercise is not amicably resolved, the party may be headed for disaster in 2027.

Chief Ikoh had earlier rejected the outcome of the governorship primary and petitioned the party’s Appeal Panel, alleging manipulation. He claimed he won the primary, having emerged as the consensus candidate endorsed by the majority of the State Working Committee members following the voluntary withdrawal of his sole rival, Mascot Kalu.

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