Governor Otti had earlier in the week, while reacting to Senator Kalu’s statement that APC will win Abia in 2027, vowed to stop Senator Kalu from returning to the senate.

The former governor firing back at Otti while address newsmen at his Igbere country home, after a meeting with party faithful where he distributed food items to his constituents and members of his party across the 17 local government areas of the state said contrary to Gov. Otti’s claim, he (Kalu) would win the poll on a landslide.

“Time will tell who will fail. This is two years to the election and I want to tell you that we are very prepared. I can tell you that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will win the state. We will win the three Senatorial District Seats and you will see it.”

Sen Kalu challenged Gov. Otti and members of his party to electoral contest, saying that the APC were going to record huge success in the 2027 general elections against the prediction of the state governor.

The Senator who revealed he helped Otti to secure victory in 2023, questioned why the governor and his media team would be vexed with his decision to work for his party; APC in 2027 general elections.

“You know that I have not for once said anything bad about the state government.

“I consider the governor as my friend and for two years I have never criticised the him.

“No governor can deny that he isn’t aware of whatever his Chief Press Secretary writes.

“Three days ago (Monday) they shot the first arrow because I said that I will work for my party, the APC to win.

“In 2023, we worked for him (Otti) to win and we are not going to do that again; We will work for our party to win. What is wrong with that? Is that why I should receive insults? That is not acceptable to me and I am going to work for my party.

Assessing Otti’s government in the past two years, Senator Kalu said “If he has done better, I don’t know about that because the money that I received in eight years is what Alex Otti receives in four months.

“Apart from rebuilding the roads that I built as a governor between 1999 and 2007, I have not seen any new major road that he has done.”

Adding, Kalu said, “I am in the Senate. All the roads that I am doing now are new farm roads. I have not seen him go into any farm road.

“As Governor, by two years time, I did what was glaring in this state which made then President Olusegun Obasanjo nick-named me ‘Action Governor’.”

Kalu said under his watch in Abia as Governor, education was free, healthcare services were equally free.

“I know that he has tried rebuilding the road that I did; Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Ohafia road, which has stayed for so long (two years) before completion. I don’t know what they have done that will warrant the insult and the noise in the social media. This business is not done on social media, it is done on the the field at the right time.”

Reacting to what the Governor wrote against him about the 2023 election, Kalu stated, “Otti said that people should write their Will. I have never rigged election before. Nobody has ever accused me of that and I don’t do that.

“Even the people that took me to court didn’t take me to court that I rigged election anywhere and I don’t do that and I don’t support that. We always want the will of the people to prevail.

Dismissing the allegation that APC in the state was balkanised with a wave of the hand, Kalu said the goal of every member of APC in the state is to win the 2027 election.

On whether he will support Otti if he joins APC, Kalu said, “I am not sure that Otti is going to join APC. I am not the owner of the party, if he (Otti) joins the party, well, what happened in 2023 will happen again.”

When asked why he was going back to the senate, Kalu said, “You asked what I am doing in the senate that other senators are not doing? You can see that the development here is unprecedented.

“I can beat my chest to say that not up to 20 senators out of the 109 have done what I have done there in six years.

“Abia North and Abia State will be shortchanging themselves if they don’t send me back to the Senate. Yes, I am saying Abia because I am building roads and schools in Isiala Ngwa, I am building roads in Aba and every other place even though I am from Abia North.”

On the perceived performance of Southeast political leaders who are allegedly not at par with their counterparts in other parts of the country, Kalu said everybody cannot be on the same level at the same time.

“Tinubu is the President of Nigeria and we are Senators of Nigeria. We are still running on the same page. The class of 1999 is so blessed by God. President Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua was class of 1999. President Tinubu is class of 1999. Maybe after the President, another class of 1999 will become the President of the country 2031″.

Speaking on creation of more states, the former Abia governor said he would not warn to talk about state creation because constitutional amendment that will enable for state creation is a very difficult issue.

He however added that If the President has the political Will to create more states and members of the National Assembly are united towards that, he will support the creation of one additional state out of the existing five states in the South East. (The Sun)