• Reaffirms support for senator’s re-election
From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
A socio-political group, Abia North Peace Foundation (ANPF), has issued a rebuttal to a recent gathering convened at the residence of Chief Chima Agbaeze in Isuikwuato, which was styled as a “Committee of Friends” meeting under the guise of Coalition for Equity and Justice in Abia North.
The condemnation follows a communiqué issued after the said meeting at Isuikwuato.
In a statement jointly signed by the Director General, Chief Nnanna Ukaegbu, and the Assistant Secretary, Pastor Caleb Kalu Awa, on Friday, the Abia North Peace Foundation described the gathering as a political masquerade driven by sycophancy, propaganda, and desperate revisionism.
“The attempt by Chima Agbaeze and his co-travelers to cast aspersions on Distinguished Senator Orji Uzor Kalu is laughable and exposes a deep-seated hypocrisy. These same individuals, now preaching selective equity, conveniently ignored the sixteen consecutive years the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi axis held the Senate seat without question,” the statement read.
They pointed out that General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd) and the late Comrade Uche Chukwumerije, both from the same zone, served a combined 16 years, yet no agitation for rotation emerged until now.
“Senator Kalu has served only eight years so far, but his impact across Abia North remains unmatched,” the statement added.
The Foundation listed Kalu’s achievements, including rural roads, improved schools, scholarships, employment opportunities, and increased federal presence. They insisted that the Senate seat is not “a token to be shared like a village masquerade costume but a mandate earned through performance and the trust of the electorate.”
Reiterating its backing for Kalu’s third term bid, the group declared that: “The people of Abia North will decide in 2027, not shrine loyalists or pseudo-activists manipulating public sentiment.”
Separately, an Isuikwuato community chieftain, Ukaoha Ifekwo from Eluama, warned the group spearheading the campaign to desist immediately, describing their online statements as “libelous and an embarrassment to men and women of goodwill.”
According to him, the so-called coalition is an unregistered group “operating only on social media” that has become “a nuisance to discerning minds in the zone.”
He cautioned that the group risks incurring the wrath of both the people and the law for defamation and name-dropping.
