Abia APC Crisis: Pro-Party Group Rejects Lifting of Ultimatum on Orji Kalu, Demands Dissolution of State Working Committee.

Abia APC Crisis: Pro-Party Group Rejects Lifting of Ultimatum on Orji Kalu, Demands Dissolution of State Working Committee.

The Reality Organisation, a pro-All Progressives Congress (APC) group, has rejected the decision by the APC Abia State Working Committee (SWC) to lift an ultimatum earlier placed on Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, describing the move as a face-saving measure rather than genuine reconciliation.

In a statement signed by Dimgba Okereke on Tuesday, the organisation criticised the resolution adopted at a stakeholders’ meeting on Sunday. The meeting had voted to lift the ultimatum issued against Kalu, the senator representing Abia North, and Chris Nkwonta, the member representing Ukwa East/West in the National Assembly. The ultimatum followed complementary remarks the two lawmakers made about Abia State Governor Alex Otti.

“What transpired at the so-called stakeholders’ meeting was neither reconciliation nor leadership,” the statement said. “It was a confused retreat from an indefensible position that should never have been taken in the first place. Chijioke Chukwu and his State Working Committee cannot manufacture a crisis, publicly embarrass respected leaders of the party, issue threats and ultimatums, fail to substantiate the alleged offence, and then suddenly proclaim reconciliation when their ultimatum expires without compliance.”

The group insisted that Kalu had committed no anti-party offence. It noted that the senator, during a television interview, was asked whether Governor Otti could win re-election in 2027 and gave his assessment. He also categorically denied any alliance between the APC and the governor.

“A prediction is not an endorsement. No amount of political sophistry can transform one into the other,” the organisation stated.

According to The Reality Organisation, the latest development further confirms its long-held view that State Chairman Chijioke Chukwu lacks the political temperament, neutrality and leadership capacity needed 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,” the group said. “Leadership demands fairness, consultation, maturity, sound judgement 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 organisation called on the APC National Working Committee to urgently intervene in Abia State and dissolve the present SWC. It argued that the Chijioke Chukwu-led committee has shown it cannot provide the impartial, credible and unifying leadership required to reconcile competing interests within the party and prepare it for the challenges ahead.