By Steve Oko
UMUAHIA – Former House of Representatives member and a founding fathers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Hon. Mezie Chiekwe Esiaga, has predicted a disastrous outing for the party in the 2027 Abia governorship race if it fails to reverse the outcome of its controversial governorship primary.
The former lawmaker who sounded the warning at a media chat in Umuahia, raised the alarm over what he described as a dangerous path being taken by the party, warning that the APC might suffer even more humiliating defeat in the 2027 governorship poll than it did in 2023.
Hon. Esiaga, who dismissed the primary that produced the party’s governorship candidate as a “complete sham,” insisted that the APC should hand over its governorship ticket to former Minister of State for Science and Technology, Chief Henry Ikoh, whom he said had laboured for years to build and sustain the party in the state.
He expressed shock over the sudden surfacing of Mr Eric Opah as a governorship aspirant barely days before the primary, claiming that many long-standing party members had little knowledge of his 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, 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 upon which Opah emerged as the party’s standard bearer, alleging that the businessman had recently spoken glowingly about the performance of the incumbent Governor Alex Otti and even 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 maintained that following the withdrawal of the second major aspirant, Chief Mascot Uzor Kalu, the party’s 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 argued that Ikoh who also doubles as the Abia State Renewed Hope Ambassador has grassroots followership across the state.
According to him, refusing to give the APC ticket to the former Minister would amount to repeating 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 concluded plans to write 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 continue 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 a disaster in 2027.
Chief Ikoh had earlier rejected the outcome of the governorship primary and petitioned the party’s Appeal Panel, alleging manipulations.
He claimed he won the primary, having emerged as the consensus candidate endorsed by the majority of the State Working Committee (SWC) members following the voluntary withdrawal of his sole rival, Mascot Kalu.
