Abia APC Guber Ticket: Mascot Uzor Kalu Campaign Team Kicks Against ‘Zoning’ Claim
...Insists on Open Primaries
By Ranmilowo Ojalumo –The Mascot Uzor Kalu Campaign Organisation has rejected a purported zoning arrangement for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, describing it as illegal, unconstitutional, and a threat to democratic principles within the party.
In a statement issued by its media team, the organisation said its attention had been drawn to a press statement by Uche Aguoru, the Abia State Publicity Secretary of the APC, announcing a zoning formula allegedly adopted by the State Working Committee (SWC). The arrangement, according to the statement, cedes the party’s governorship ticket to Abia Central Senatorial District and discourages other aspirants from purchasing expression of interest forms.
The group, however, questioned the authenticity of the claim, noting that most members of the Abia APC SWC were not currently in the state and had not convened any formal meeting in the past week. It therefore described the announcement as “purported.”
The campaign organisation further argued that such a zoning arrangement was not only frivolous and reckless but also alien to established precedents within the APC in Abia State.
It recalled that since the party’s inception in the state, there had never been any zoning formula for its governorship ticket.
Citing past primaries, the group noted that in 2015, Nyerere Chinenye Ayim from Abia South clinched the ticket with the support of party members, defeating High Chief Ikechi Emenike, who also contested.
Similarly, according to the media team, in 2019, the party conducted open primaries involving multiple aspirants across the three senatorial districts, stating that Hon. Martins Azubuike from Abia Central contested alongside Prince Paul Ikonne from Abia South and Uche Sampson Ogah from Abia North, with Ogah eventually emerging as the party’s candidate.
The organisation also highlighted that in 2023, High Chief Ikechi Emenike from Abia Central secured the APC governorship ticket after a competitive primary election. It added that other aspirants, including Uche Ogah and Paul Ikonne, also purchased forms and participated in the primaries, reinforcing the party’s tradition of open contest.
Rejecting the alleged zoning arrangement “in its entirety,” the campaign warned against any attempt to impose candidates or manipulate party structures to the disadvantage of its principal, Mascot Uzor Kalu.
It stated that any “surreptitious attempt by self-serving elements within the party to weaponise the SWC” to frustrate Kalu’s governorship ambition would be met with “hardcore, lawful, and unyielding resistance.”
The group also called on supporters of Mascot Uzor Kalu within the APC to remain calm and resolute. The organisation warned those stoking division in the party to desist after failing in earlier attempts to impose a consensus candidate.
According to the statement, “those stoking crisis and fanning the embers of division have now resorted to another divisive and ill-conceived scheme, one that is already dead on arrival.”
It stressed that the APC in Abia must not be reduced to what it described as a “playground for undemocratic impositions,” insisting that the will of party members, expressed through a free, fair, and credible primary process, must prevail.
