Reality Organisation condemns Abia APC anti-party allegation against Senator Orji Kalu, says ‘enough is enough”

By Ranmilowo Ojalumo.   The Reality Organisation has condemned the allegation of anti-party activity levelled against the Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, describing it as an attempt to manufacture an offence from a straightforward political prediction.

The organisation stated this in a reaction to a communiqué purportedly issued by the State Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State against Kalu.

In a statement signed by Dimgba Okereke on behalf of the Reality Organisation, the group questioned the basis for the allegation, saying Kalu had only responded to questions during a television interview about the likely outcomes of the 2027 elections.

According to the statement, Kalu was asked whether President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would win the 2027 presidential election, and he answered yes.

“He was asked whether Governor Alex Otti would win the Abia governorship election. He answered yes. He was further asked whether the APC was in an alliance with Governor Otti. His answer was an unequivocal no,” the organisation said.

It consequently questioned where Kalu’s alleged endorsement of Otti occurred.

“Where, therefore, is the endorsement? Is a prediction now synonymous with an endorsement? Has political analysis suddenly become anti-party activity?” it asked.

The organisation said a prediction was an assessment of what one believed might happen, while an endorsement was an expression of support for a candidate or cause.

“Conflating the two is either a manifestation of profound intellectual laziness or a deliberate attempt to mislead members of the party and the public,” it said.

The group said if the leadership of the APC in Abia State was genuinely serious about winning the 2027 governorship election, Kalu’s answers should have provided an opportunity for sober self-reflection.

Rather than threats and disciplinary proceedings, it said the party leadership should ask itself what shortcomings within the party could produce such a prediction and what needed to be done to change the political equation before 2027.

The organisation also questioned whether Chijioke Chukwu and his colleagues would prefer Kalu to predict an APC governorship victory “merely to massage their egos, even when his assessment of the prevailing political situation suggests otherwise.”

“That would not be loyalty. It would be self-deception dressed in party colours,” it said.

The group also accused the APC leadership in Abia State of selective outrage, citing an article allegedly written by the camp of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives a few days before the National Assembly primaries, which predicted hurdles for Kalu even if he secured the APC senatorial ticket.

It questioned the reaction of Chukwu and his colleagues to the article, asking: “Where was Chijioke Chukwu and his colleagues then? What was their reaction? Where was the communiqué? Where was the righteous indignation? Where were the threats of disciplinary proceedings?”

The organisation said the alleged application of different standards to political allies and those perceived as adversaries exposed “the hypocrisy at the heart of this charade.”

It further stated that no individual owned the APC in Abia State.

“Benjamin Kalu does not own it. Chijioke Chukwu does not own it. Neither does any collection of political cronies have the authority to convert a national political party into a private estate where disagreement is punished and independent thought is treated as rebellion,” it said.

The organisation said the APC belonged equally to those who built it, sustained it through difficult elections, mobilised for it when doing so was politically inconvenient and continued to believe in its ideals.

“We therefore say, without equivocation: enough is enough,” it said.

It warned that if what it described as a culture of “segregation, intimidation, high-handedness and impunity” continued, genuine and patriotic members of the Abia APC would have no alternative but to unveil a dedicated State Working Committee to run the affairs of the party and provide what it called inclusive leadership.

“Nobody should mistake restraint for weakness,” the organisation added.

It said Kalu’s prediction should provoke introspection rather than persecution, adding that if the Abia APC disagreed with his assessment, the party should organise itself, reconcile aggrieved members, end segregation, present a credible candidate and mobilise Abians.

“Prove the prediction wrong at the ballot box. That is democracy. Threats, selective disciplinary proceedings and political grandstanding will not win an election,” the organisation said.

“The time for political rascality masquerading as party administration must come to an end. Enough is enough.”