Abia APC Crisis Deepens As Kalu Camp Seeks SWC Dissolution

The crisis in the Abia State chapter of the All Progressive Congress APC has deepen as Senator Orji Uzor Kalu pro group, Reality Organization called on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to urgently intervene in Abia State and dissolve the present Chijioke Chukwu-led State Working Committee (SWC).

The group in a statement signed by Dimgba Okereke on behalf of the Reality Organisation Worldwide said the leadership of the party lacked ability to provide the impartial, credible, and unifying leadership required to reconcile the competing interests within the party and prepare the APC for the enormous political task ahead.

They also stated that it would convene an important meeting in October to review the political situation within the Abia State APC and determine the appropriate leadership direction for the members and supporters across the state.

“At that meeting, we shall take far-reaching decisions concerning the leadership required to protect the interests of genuine party members and provide an alternative direction for those who have completely lost confidence in the present State Working Committee.

“Let nobody misunderstand our position. Reality Organisation has lost confidence in the leadership of Chijioke Chukwu. We are no longer interested in lending political support to a leadership that has repeatedly demonstrated partiality, inconsistency, and an inability to unite the party.

“This position will equally inform our approach to candidates being promoted or sponsored under a political arrangement that treats some members as stakeholders and others as expendable.

“The APC is not the personal property of Chijioke Chukwu or any individual, tendency, or political bloc. Those who believe they can exploit temporary positions within the party to intimidate others, manufacture disciplinary offences, and determine who deserves political relevance will ultimately discover that a political party derives its strength from its members, not from the transient titles of those occupying its offices.

“Reality Organisation remains committed to the APC and its success, but loyalty to the party must never be confused with submission to incompetent leadership. Our loyalty is to the party, its constitution, its members, and the principles upon which it was built, not to an individual state chairman”, the group warned.

On the withdrawal of disciplinary actions against Sen. Kalu, Reality Organisation, said it has rejected the withdrawal and clarified that “Chijioke Chukwu had an opportunity to unite the Abia APC. He has failed. He had an opportunity to demonstrate impartiality. He has failed. He had an opportunity to prove that the State Working Committee belonged to every tendency within the APC. Again, he has failed”.

They described the withdrawal as a face-saving exercise and a confused retreat from an indefensible position that should never have been taken in the first place.

The group said: “Chukwu and his State Working Committee cannot manufacture a crisis, publicly embarrass respected leaders of the party, issued threats and ultimatums, fail to substantiate the alleged offence, and then suddenly proclaimed reconciliation when their ultimatum expired without compliance.

“Reality Organisation stated, from the outset, that Senator Kalu committed no anti-party offence. He was asked during a television interview whether Governor Alex Otti could win re-election in 2027 and he gave his assessment. He was equally asked whether there was an alliance between the APC and Governor Otti and he categorically answered no. A prediction is not an endorsement. No amount of political sophistry can transform one into the other.

“This latest somersault has further demonstrated what Reality Organisation has consistently maintained: Chijioke Chukwu lacks the political temperament, neutrality, and leadership capacity required to unite the APC in Abia State ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“A state chairman cannot administer a political party on impulse, selective outrage, and narrow political calculations. Leadership demands fairness, consultation, maturity, sound judgment and the capacity to accommodate the diverse tendencies within a large political family.

“What Chijioke Chukwu succeeded in doing was generating unnecessary political controversy around an allegation that had no foundation. He created the spectacle, fuelled the controversy, and subjected the party to avoidable internal tension. That cannot simply be swept under the carpet under the convenient banner of reconciliation”.

The group further stated, “Even more disturbing is the glaring selective application of party discipline. Reality Organisation has repeatedly drawn attention to provocative political statements and activities by individuals associated with other tendencies within the Abia APC without witnessing the same urgency, ultimatums, threats, and public condemnation from the State Working Committee”.

Reality Organisation queried, “Is Chijioke Chukwu not aware that Senator Emma Nwaka had endorsed Governor Otti? Is he unaware of the positions of Rt. Hon. Christopher Enweremadu, Prof. A.C.B Agbazuere and several others? Is he equally unaware that his own principal, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, recently openly praised the governor at an event in Umuahia? Where were the threats? Where were the ultimatums? Where were the disciplinary proceedings? Party discipline cannot become an instrument of political vendetta, selectively deployed against perceived opponents while allies and associates are conveniently shielded from scrutiny”.

It is the view of the Reality Organisation that a party preparing to seriously challenge for power in 2027 cannot afford a leadership that manufactures crises in August and begins searching for reconciliation before the end of the same month.

“That is not a strategy. It is political confusion and an unmistakable failure of leadership”.