NEWS
Parallel Primaries, Protests Deepen Crisis In Abia APC As Conflicting Governorship, Assembly Results Throw Party Into Turmoil Ahead Of 2027
Fresh crisis has engulfed the Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following controversies trailing the party’s governorship and State House of Assembly primaries, with parallel claims of victory, allegations of imposition, protests by party members and the emergence of two governorship candidates throwing the party into confusion ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The deepening internal turmoil, which has now exposed widening cracks within the Abia APC leadership structure, escalated after conflicting outcomes emerged from both the governorship and House of Assembly primaries conducted across the state between Wednesday, May 20 and Thursday, May 21, 2026.
The State House of Assembly primaries were held on Wednesday under the party’s direct primary system across the 184 wards in the state, while the governorship primary took place on Thursday amid intense political tension, accusations of manipulation and allegations of attempts to impose preferred candidates.
At the centre of the unfolding political drama is the controversial governorship contest where former Minister of State for Science and Technology, Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, and another aspirant, Chief Eric Opah, simultaneously emerged as APC governorship candidates through separate declarations and parallel processes.
The crisis has also spread to the Bende North and Bende South State Constituency primaries where supporters of some aspirants accused party leaders of allegedly altering results declared at ward levels before final announcements were made at the state level.
The situation has since generated outrage among party faithful across parts of the state, particularly in Bende North where hundreds of aggrieved APC members stormed the party secretariat in Umuahia demanding what they described as justice, transparency and restoration of the “true mandate” of their preferred candidate while threatening to dump the party if the alleged irregularities were not addressed.
The governorship controversy began on Thursday after 13 out of the 18 members of the Abia APC State Working Committee (SWC) adopted Chief Henry Ikoh as the party’s consensus governorship candidate following hours of closed-door consultations involving party stakeholders and leaders.
The endorsement was formalised in a resolution signed by majority members of the SWC including the State Secretary, Chief Chidi Avaja; Deputy Chairman, Chinedu Ihesinulo; Deputy Secretary, Benedict Godson; State Organising Secretary, Hon. Emeka Okorafor; Woman Leader, Mrs Erondu C.C; Treasurer, John Ajuziogu; Legal Adviser, Vigilus Nwankwo; and Youth Leader, Jerry Awa among others.
Part of the resolution read:
“We, the undersigned leaders and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, after extensive deliberations and consultations, unanimously adopt Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh as the APC consensus governorship candidate for the party’s primary election held today, May 21, 2026.
“This decision was reached in the overall interest of party unity, electoral victory and the desire to present a credible, experienced and widely accepted candidate capable of leading APC to victory in Abia State.”
The SWC maintained that Ikoh’s adoption was based on his political experience, leadership credentials, grassroots acceptability and capacity to reposition the party ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Speaking with journalists in Umuahia, the State Organising Secretary, Hon. Emeka Okorafor, disclosed that the committee adopted Ikoh after the withdrawal of another aspirant, Mascot Uzor Kalu, from the governorship race earlier in the day.
Okorafor further revealed that the party leadership became uncomfortable after what he described as the sudden appearance of “a strange aspirant” whom they were unsure was a genuine member of the APC.
“We realized we had two candidates until suddenly we saw a new face that was never part of our part.
“With the other aspirant stepping down, we believe we now have one candidate. We exercised our democratic rights to adopt him as our sole aspirant for today’s gubernatorial primaries,” Okorafor stated.
He added that appointment letters had already been issued to party officials to conduct direct primaries across the state, insisting that even with a sole candidate, an affirmation exercise was expected to take place.
However, barely hours after the adoption of Ikoh by majority members of the SWC, another dramatic twist emerged as the Chairman of the APC Governorship Election Committee, Hon. Bartho Lalong, announced Chief Eric Opah as winner of the governorship primary.
According to the declaration, Opah polled 126,977 votes to defeat Henry Ikoh who reportedly scored 5,905 votes.
The declaration immediately triggered outrage among party stakeholders and intensified allegations of manipulation and procedural irregularities within the exercise.
Reacting to the development, the Henry Ikoh Campaign Organisation, in a strongly worded statement signed by its Director-General, Prince Ikedi Ezekwesiri, rejected the result and described the process as a “sham”.
The statement titled, “The sham called Abia APC governorship primary election and the purported results announced cannot stand,” described the outcome as provocative, unacceptable and inconsistent with the consensus arrangement earlier reached by majority members of the SWC.
“It is incongruous to the set-down rules and guidelines of our party, APC, regarding the procedures and processes of conducting primary elections, that a clique of desperate politicians should usurp the duties of the party and jettison the laid-down rules and guidelines as contained in the constitution of the party to go on a wide indecent frolic to massage their inglorious ego.
“Any result(s) generated from a faulty procedural foundation cannot stand,” the statement read.
The campaign organisation insisted that no valid process could override the earlier adoption of Ikoh by 13 out of 18 members of the SWC and warned that attempts to impose candidates against the collective will of party stakeholders could further destabilize the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
The organisation also alleged foul play in the declaration of Opah as winner and disclosed that it had already commenced moves to formally petition the APC national leadership over what it described as a controversial and questionable process.
Amid the confusion trailing the governorship primary, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, issued a statement clarifying that no official result had been released by the APC Electoral Committee regarding any primary election conducted across the country.
The statement urged party members and the public to disregard figures circulating on social media and other unofficial platforms.
According to the statement:
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) wishes to inform all party members, supporters and the general public that no official result has been released by the APC Electoral Committee regarding any of the party’s primary elections across the country.
“Reports and figures currently circulating on social media and other platforms are unofficial, speculative and should be disregarded.”
The national leadership stressed that only authentic results officially announced by the appropriate APC authorities in Abuja would be recognised.
While the governorship crisis continued to dominate discussions, another controversy erupted in Bende North State Constituency where party members protested the alleged substitution of Hon. Ngozi Vivianne Orji despite claims that she overwhelmingly won the primary election.
The direct primary held on Wednesday reportedly witnessed massive turnout across Item A, Item B, Item C, Igbere A, Igbere B, Ugwueke/Eziukwu and Amankalu/Akoliufu wards, with party members openly queuing behind banners bearing photographs of their preferred aspirants in line with APC direct primary guidelines.
Ward-by-ward results announced by APC returning officers showed that Hon. Ngozi Vivianne Orji secured commanding victories across most wards.
At Item A Ward, she reportedly polled 2,302 votes against 256 votes recorded by Orji Udeagha and 1,781 votes secured by Uzoechi Igwe.
In Item B Ward, Vivianne scored 756 votes while Uzoechi Igwe polled 902 votes and Orji Udeagha got 34 votes.
At Item C Ward, Vivianne recorded 1,820 votes ahead of Udeagha’s 344 and Uzoechi Igwe’s 100 votes.
She equally dominated Igbere A Ward with 1,966 votes against Udeagha’s 400 votes and Uzoechi Igwe’s 124 votes.
At the end of collation, the cumulative figures reportedly showed:
Hon. Ngozi Vivianne Orji — 7,918 votes
Orji Udeagha — 2,088 votes
Uzoechi Igwe — 1,518 votes
Despite the figures announced at ward levels, the APC later officially listed Orji Udeagha as the party’s candidate for Bende North State Constituency at the Umuahia state headquarters office presided over by its Chairman, Chijoke Chukwu.
The development sparked anger among party supporters who accused some party leaders of allegedly altering the outcome of the election.
On Thursday, hundreds of APC members from Bende North stormed the party secretariat in Umuahia carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs while demanding justice and transparency.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Hon. Obinna Mba alleged that Hon. Ngozi Vivianne Orji won the election convincingly before the results were allegedly manipulated.
“Our appeal is for the leadership of the party to correct what we see as an injustice and allow the person who won the primary to reclaim her mandate,” he stated.
The protesters also appealed to key APC leaders including Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and the Abia APC Chairman, Hon. Chijioke Chukwu, to urgently intervene and restore confidence in the party’s internal democratic process.
The Bende South State Constituency primary also ended in controversy following conflicting claims over the actual winner of the exercise.
Prior to the election, the APC Publicity Secretary in Abia State, Chief Uche Aguoru, had issued a statement announcing that one of the aspirants, Chief Owa Chinedu Kingsley, withdrew from the race and endorsed Chief Emmanuel Ndubuisi, popularly known as “Ijiriji Bende.”
The statement further suggested that Emmanuel Ndubuisi had become the only candidate remaining in the race.
However, another aspirant, Hon. Victor Ebubechukwu Anyaogu, popularly known as “Ebube Bende,” immediately rejected the claim, insisting he remained fully in the race.
In a rebuttal titled “False Claims of Single Candidate and Stepping Down in Bende South Race,” Anyaogu accused the APC Publicity Secretary of promoting falsehood and attempting to create confusion within the party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I, Ebubechukwu Victor Anyaogu popularly known as EBUBE BENDE, remain fully in the race and have never contemplated stepping down for anybody.
“It is unfortunate that a party publicity secretary would promote falsehood and create unnecessary confusion within the party,” he stated.
Anyaogu maintained that the election would be won at the polls and not through “imposition, media propaganda, intimidation or political speculation.”
During the direct primary election conducted across wards in Bende South, supporters of Anyaogu reportedly turned out massively, openly queuing behind his banners across wards including Uzuakoli, Umuhu/Ezechi, Umu-Imenyi, Nkpa and Ntalakwu.
Results reportedly collated by ward officers indicated that Anyaogu polled 8,325 votes to defeat Emmanuel Ndubuisi who scored 4,567 votes.
Despite the claims, the official APC announcement of successful State House of Assembly candidates later omitted Bende South State Constituency entirely.
The omission further fueled speculations that the party leadership may have withheld the result due to the growing controversy surrounding the primary.
In an official statement signed by State Publicity Secretary, Chief Uche Aguoru, the APC announced the successful conclusion of the State House of Assembly primaries and released names of candidates for various constituencies across Abia State.
The list included candidates for Aba North, Aba South, Arochukwu, Bende North, Ikwuano, Isiala Ngwa North and South, Isuikwuato, Obingwa East and West, Ohafia North and South, Osisioma North and South, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East and West, Umuahia Central, Umuahia East, Umuahia North, Umuahia South and Umunneochi constituencies.
However, the conspicuous absence of Bende South from the official announcement immediately raised further concerns among party members and observers.
Although the APC leadership called for calm and insisted that the party remained committed to fairness, transparency and due process in resolving disputes arising from the primaries, the parallel declarations, protests, withheld results and allegations of manipulation have now left the Abia APC deeply divided.
Political stakeholders within the party have warned that failure to urgently resolve the crisis could significantly weaken the APC’s chances ahead of the 2027 general elections in Abia State.