Umuahia: Hundreds of youths marched through Umuahia on Monday, protesting Sen. Orji Kalu’s third-term ambition and calling for a generational shift in Abia North’s 2027 Senate race.
They specifically urged Kalu to withdraw from the upcoming election to allow younger candidates to contest for the seat.
The protesters marched through major streets in the Abia capital and endorsed another senatorial aspirant, Dr Phillips Nto, as their preferred candidate.
They argued that, compared to the former governor, Nto would provide more effective representation.
They ended the march at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat on Azikiwe Road and handed a protest letter, addressed to President Bola Tinubu, to the state party Chairman.
In the copy of the letter the youths made available to newsmen, they expressed dissatisfaction with Kalu’s “poor representation,” saying he had reduced them to “modern-day slaves.”
Dr Uchenna Akpi, Mr Kingsley Olugu, and Mr Vitals Igbokwe co-signed the letter on behalf of key groups: the Old Bende Political Forum, Abia Youths Christian Assembly, and Abia North Young Professionals for Tinubu’s Mandate.
The groups urged the APC leadership to deny Kalu the senatorial ticket for a third term and described his representation as “abysmal.”
“Because we are not a conquered people, and because we believe in the peaceful exercise of our democratic rights, we respectfully appeal to you, sir, as the leader of our great party, to intervene and ensure that Orji Uzor Kalu is not given the senatorial ticket for a third term,” the letter read.
They claimed the APC government had hijacked federal appointments.
They questioned the rationale for the senator’s third-term bid, while his younger brother, Mascot Kalu, is also seeking the APC governorship ticket in the state.
The protesters explicitly asked Tinubu to ensure Kalu does not receive the party’s ticket and to support Nto as the APC senate candidate, expressing a need to end what they described as Kalu’s political dominance.
They described Nto as “one of us”, who understood the challenges facing the people and was better positioned to address them.
They cited his background as an academic, administrator, and grassroots mobiliser and said these qualities make him better suited for the role than Kalu.
The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Uche Aguoru, received the protesters on behalf of the party chairman and pledged to forward the letter to the appropriate authorities.
Aguoru assured the party would adopt a direct primary system for candidate selection and that all aspirants would have a level playing field.
He urged the youths to remain peaceful and devote their time towards mobilising support for their preferred aspirant.
Several attempts to obtain Kalu’s reaction to the development at the time of filing the report were unsuccessful.
