What is the opposition in Abia State really up to? I have never seen such a confused lot. Just a little while ago, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ben Okezie Kalu, postured as the biggest threats to the state’s high-flying incumbent governor, Dr. Alex Otti. After each had initially and openly paid brotherly visits to Otti in the Umuahia Government House and effusively commended him for his transformational governance, they came back with threats to sweep him off his executive perch.

Let’s take Ben Okezie, alias “Big Ben.” He came with the strategy of bombastically and grandiloquently throwing his weight around as the nation’s “number six.” According to him, as Deputy Speaker of the Federal House, he is number six in the order of precedence. The idea was to position himself as a political big shot coming home with federal might to snatch the governorship seat. Of course, it is not true that the deputy speaker is number six in the order of precedence or appearance in national official gatherings. After the President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, the fifth is the Chief Justice of the Federation. In a document released in June 2024, the federal government clarified that the deputy speaker is actually number nine — behind former presidents, former vice presidents and the deputy senate president.

Big Ben also adopted the time-worn strategy of presidential name-dropping. He joined Otti and the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, in the historic project inspections and commissioning held on 4 October 2025 in Umuahia and Aba. Unlike Umahi, who was direct in commending Otti for a job well done so far, Big Ben claimed unabashedly that it was President Bola Tinubu, his party’s leader, who was “funding” the Abia projects. This, of course, was a lie told without shame in broad daylight before millions. The money came from Abia State’s share of the monthly federal revenue allocations, improved internal revenue generation and elimination of “stomach infrastructure” and other wasteful spending. Big Ben knew that ringing Tinubu’s name would endear him to the president and pave his way to be rigged in as governor, retain his “number six” seat or secure a ministerial appointment. What a self-serving strategy!

Big Ben even preened about his tall stature and self-acclaimed sartorial looks. Since when did elections become beauty contests? To all this braggadocio, Governor Otti made one deft, disarming move. He appointed Big Ben’s wife, Dr. Ezinne Chinyere Benjamin Kalu, as the chairman of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) Management Board. Otti rose above base political sentiments and appointed Big Ben’s wife because she was found eminently and suitably qualified to deliver on the government’s vision. That’s leadership.

A few weeks later, Big Ben unceremoniously bowed out of the race against Governor Otti. I don’t think he did it because of his wife’s appointment. I think even Number Six saw no realistic way forward for his governorship ambition in a contest against Otti. So, he has fallen back on his Option B — return to the House. But he has an Otti-backed tough opponent, Igbere-born billionaire businessman Chima Anyaso, to battle. If he loses, he will settle for Option C — ministerial appointment — if Tinubu gets re-elected. Good luck to that.

Now, Orji Kalu. Just like Big Ben, Senator Kalu had visited Governor Otti, called him “my brother, brother” and commended him for changing the Abia landscape within just two years. But when Orji Kalu decided that his younger brother, Mascot Uzor Kalu, should replace Otti as governor, he came up with the zinger which has turned him into the butt of jokes on social media. He claimed that Otti’s “so-called achievements” were that he only painted all the projects he (Kalu) built as governor 19 years ago! This was a governor whose road projects never lasted beyond the first rain after commissioning!

Kalu brimmed with confidence that he would reclaim the Abia Government House and treasury through his brother because of his deep connections in his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Kalu and Tinubu were not only “classmate” governors (1999–2007), they were also personal friends further united by their respective political struggles as opposition to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Kalu later committed a blunder that has haunted him to date. In the 2022 transitional politics, he had openly supported President Muhammadu Buhari’s plot to impose former Senate President Ahmed Lawan as his successor. When Tinubu outsmarted Buhari, clinched the APC presidential ticket and later emerged president, Kalu lost out. Remember how he wept shamelessly in the senate while complaining about his “unfair” treatment?

Perhaps the cold weather between Tinubu and Kalu is still very frigid, hence the unsung withdrawal of Mascot from the race against Governor Otti. One dark horse, Eric Opah, has emerged as the APC governorship candidate with 125,997 votes, flooring better-fancied Henry Ikoh, a former minister. Earlier on, Dr. Uche Ogah, an industrial magnate, former minister and APC pioneer in Abia State, had visited Otti and generously declared his support for continuation in 2027, despite party differences. All the major political heavyweights earlier lined up against Otti have voluntarily given way. Is Alex Otti coasting home already? So it seems. 

But this is the time to exercise extreme caution and make assurance doubly sure. The PDP’s erstwhile rigging machine in Abia State now resides in the APC. Otti must take all necessary measures to ensure the people’s mandate is not subverted. Secondly, and most importantly, Otti and his political commissariat must keenly police the potential threat posed by the fake governorship ticket given Ceekay Igara by Julius Abure, whose tenure as Labour Party national chairman has been ruled as expired by the Supreme Court. That is a potential snake in the grass.