Abia APC’s 2027 Guber Bid, Mere Formality – Ememanka

A chieftain of the Labour Party and Director of Publicity of the Abia State Labour Party Campaign Council, Sir Onyebuchi Ememanka, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State is gradually coming to terms with the reality that its participation in the 2027 gubernatorial election is a mere formality.

In a statement titled “Good Morning, Abia APC Members” issued on October 16, 2026, Ememanka said recent lamentations within the Abia APC confirm what he had long told members of the opposition party.

“From all indications, the members of Abia APC are now beginning to understand what I have been telling them from the start, namely, that their participation in the 2027 Gubernatorial Election in Abia State, is just a mere formality,” he said.

Ememanka alleged that the entire plan of the APC in Abia to contest the 2027 governorship was built around the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, whom he said was funding those who defected from the PDP to the APC.

“Those who left the PDP early did so on the premise that Ben was in the position to dredge up enough support from Abuja for the fight. Ben, it was, who was funding those men who left PDP to join the APC. I was in the PDP then and I know what I am saying,” he stated.

According to him, the APC’s initial plan was to pull Governor Alex Otti into the party, and when that failed, the party looked to Ben Kalu, who later opted to return to the House of Representatives after realizing that “Abia is a no-go area.”

“I have been privileged to be around power and I understand the language of power and its nuances,” Ememanka said, adding that the lukewarm attitude of the party’s major stakeholders in the state reflects the absence of Abuja’s backing.

“You think OUK will do all he is doing if Abuja is interested in Abia?” he queried.

The Labour Party campaign spokesman said the APC governorship candidate, Eric Opah, was not in the party’s original plan and now faces a complex situation, lacking both physical and financial support from the party structure and from Abuja.

“By support, I mean physical support and funding. Running a gubernatorial campaign costs money. Plenty of it… Opah is a wealthy man, I know that but I doubt if he will like to pour his hard earned money into a deal that is doomed already,” he said.

Ememanka dismissed attempts to portray him as promoting an anti-Ngwa agenda, saying the opposition’s online attacks on him were misdirected.

“But it’s gratifying that they are now gradually coming to terms with reality. The truth is slowly staring them in the face that they are not in this race. As the days mature, the APC Gubernatorial Campaign in Abia will be losing momentum in geometric proportions,” he said.

He contrasted the APC’s situation with Governor Otti’s perseverance, noting that Otti ran three times, sustained momentum and pursued his case up to the Supreme Court before eventually winning.

“So, Abia APC members, please don’t hate the player. Don’t hate Ememanka. Hate the game. Ememanka is not your problem. Nigerian politics is,” the statement concluded.