By Pastor Caleb Ajagba, PhD, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Abia State.
In the last few weeks, the political atmosphere in Abia State has witnessed a disturbing escalation of accusations and counter-accusations involving Chief Charles Ogbonna, popularly known as Evulogu Ibeku, and the current administration in Abia state.
Political disagreement is healthy in a democracy. The current administration and in particular Governor Alex Otti is not averse to criticisms, and opposition to government’s policies and programmes is legitimate.
Indeed, citizens benefit when government’s actions are subjected to rigorous scrutiny with a view to improving overall outcomes.
But when criticisms cease to be about policies and performance and begins to exploit ethnicity, ancestry and communal emotions, caution must be exercised. This explains the reason why Ndi Ngwa and indeed all Abians must become particularly vigilant in the wake of the Evulogu saga.
Chief Charles Ogbonna has recently alleged, among other things, that Governor Otti privately described Ndi Ngwa as people without brain. The Abia State Government has categorically denied this allegation and challenged him to substantiate it.
For an accusation that is this serious, there are a number of questions that every discerning Abian and especially Ndi Ngwa must interrogate.
WHO REALLY SPEAKS FOR NDI NGWA?
I write not merely as Chief of Staff to Governor Alex Otti, but also as an Abian and a proud Son of Ngwaland who like other Abians, has been at the receiving end of mal-administration before the advent of the Alex Otti administration. I therefore consider it important that our people do not allow clannish or ethnic sentiments to be manipulated for selfish political purposes.
Before anybody presents himself as the defender of Ndi Ngwa, we are entitled to examine his or her records, as history is particularly instructive here.
In April 2022, as Abia prepared for the 2023 governorship election, Chief Charles Ogbonna publicly opposed the emergence of a governor of Ngwa extraction in 2023.
Although there was nothing inherently illegitimate about holding such a political position, as every citizen has the right to advocate zoning or rotation in whatever direction he believes is equitable. However, what is significant, is the strength of the language and the procedure that Chief Ogbonna employed in driving his convictions home.
Punch reported on April 6, 2022 that Chief Ogbonna declared that he would deploy the resources available to him to ensure that no Ngwa man became the next Governor of Abia State in 2023. The same report documented the viral video in which he poured libation in connection with that political objective.
Chief Ogbonna subsequently defended the libation publicly. In an interview with The Sun, he firmly reiterated his beliefs in the traditional significance of the libation he poured out to authenticate his stance. These things are matters of public record.
The question before every discerning Ngwa man or woman is therefore what has changed?
How does a political figure who fought so vehemently against Ngwa governorship aspiration in 2023 suddenly become the champion of Ngwa political renaissance and identity in 2026?
It is axiomatic that people can change their political persuasions or convictions and certainly Chief Ogbonna is entitled to change his. But, when a politician dramatically changes position previously held, every discerning person is entitled to ask for an explanation.
THE PART OF THE STORY THAT HAS RECEIVED LESS ATTENTION
There is another context to the present disagreement which the public deserves to know and appreciate.
The relationship between Chief Ogbonna and the Alex Otti administration did not deteriorate merely because somebody suddenly discovered a new passion for defending Ndi Ngwa.
There were substantive issues involving public assets. One of them concerned the Agbozu Cocoa Farm Estate. The documentary public record is important.
In January 2025, the Abia State Government announced the revocation of management
contracts covering four government-owned agricultural estates.
Among the affected companies was Providence Resources Ltd (owned by Chief Charles Ogbonna), which had responsibility for the Abia Cocoa Farm Estate at Agbozu.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Cliff Agbaeze, stated publicly that the affected managers had failed in their contractual obligations.
Government consequently announced its intention to subject the estates to a fresh open bidding process in order to attract credible investors. This was not a secret action directed against one individual. Compensation was paid to Chief Charles
Ogbonna’s company even though the later reneged in its obligation towards the state as per the terms of engagement signed between his company and the state government.
Four farm estates and four management arrangements were affected. In line with the principle of transparency and accountability of this administration, public assets must work for the public. The implication of this is that an individual or company entrusted with a government asset must comply with the conditions under which that asset was entrusted to it. Where those obligations are not fulfilled, government has a responsibility to protect the collective patrimony
of Abians. That should not be controversial.
Government property is not for political patronage, neither is government land meant for compensation for political loyalty. So, the Commonwealth of Abia cannot be converted into private entitlement merely because somebody is occupying or has occupied influential political positions in the past.
There were also issues of dashed hopes and expectations which had prevailed in times past where political appointments were made not based on merit but purely as a way of compensating loyalty. The truth is that the Alex Otti administration has dealt a devastating blow to the idea of appointments to less qualified persons sponsored from influential political families or their cronies.
Governor Otti’s response to such overtures has been consistent with the philosophy that government positions should not simply become instruments of personal political patronage.
What kind of Abia do we want?
The questions that should therefore agitate our minds should include: Do we want a state in which political influence guarantees appointments for relatives?
Do we want a system in which access to the Governor becomes a currency through which public assets and appointments are distributed? Or do we want a state where government decisions increasingly rest upon competence, performance, due process and the public interest?
These are the real questions.
LET US NOT TURN A PERSONAL DISAGREEMENT INTO AN NGWA WARFARE
I appeal to my Ngwa brothers and sisters to be circumspect as we approach the 2027 elections.
We must not permit anybody to convert his or her personal disagreement with this
administration into an ethnic or clannish confrontation between Governor Otti and Ndi Ngwa.
Alex Otti was born and raised in Ngwaland. Whatever discussions people may have about his ancestral roots, his relationship with Ngwaland is not a political invention manufactured for the 2027 election. More importantly, the performance of a governor should not ultimately be determined by genealogy.
A governor should be judged by what he does with the mandate entrusted to him.
Let nobody tell us that the major problem confronting Abia today is the ancestral home of Alex Otti or for that matter any other political actor.
NDI NGWA AND ABIANS BEWARE OF THE POLITICS OF CONVENIENT ETHNICITY AND PRIMORDIAL SENTIMENTS
My concern as an Abian and an Ngwa man is much deeper than the current exchange. Ethnic or clannish solidarity becomes dangerous when politicians activate it only when it serves their immediate political interests. Ndi Ngwa must therefore scrutinize every person who suddenly jumps into the political arena and claims to be speaking for us.
Governor Otti is presently serving the mandate given to him by Abians. The 2027 election will be decided by the electorate according to the constitutional and electoral process.
Political actions have consequences. The relationships that the likes of Chief Charles Ogbonna will help us destroy today because of selfish interests, as well as the clannish cleavages we encourage and nurture can influence the political environment of tomorrow to the detriment of any
political bloc in Abia state.
That is why Ndi Ngwa should do everything possible to resist attempts by any self-styled Apostle of Ngwa liberation to manufacture an unnecessary confrontation between Ngwaland and the sitting Governor. Our political future will be better served by building bridges across Abia North, Abia Central and Abia South than by creating enemies for ourselves across the state, especially when such is being championed by anyone that lacks character or has expired in political relevance and thinks that the only way to actualize same is to latch onto clannish sentiments.
Ngwa political relevance cannot be secured through isolation. It will be strengthened through performance, competence, alliances, credibility and the ability to persuade the wider Abia electorate.
LET THE 2027 DEBATE BE ABOUT ISSUES
Let 2027 political season be anchored on issues. This is one thing that has made the candidature of Dr Alex Otti a global reference point in terms of democratic governance. Let the opposition elements focus on real issues and challenges bedeviling Abia state.
But when political argument begins to descend into ancestry, unverifiable private conversations and attempts to arouse clannish and ethnic sentiments, Ndi Ngwa should ask themselves whose interests such politics ultimately serves.
Whenever anybody approaches us carrying the banner of clannish or ethnic solidarity, let us ask what political objective lies behind that banner.
Let every allegation against Governor Otti by the opposition be interrogated within the
framework of his achievements given the decadence he met on ground on assumption of office on May 29, 2023.
Paradoxically, the people that created the problem he has devoted his time
and energy in solving at his personal discomfort and sacrifice, are the same set of people criticizing him the most and insinuating that he is not moving fast enough to clear the mess they left on ground. In saner climes, people like that will be banished for life from holding public offices.
We have travelled too far to return to politics in which ancestry replaces achievement,
allegations replace evidence and personal grievances are repackaged as communal struggles.
My conclusion is that Chief Charles Ogbonna has no love for Ndi Ngwa or Ngwaland. He is on a sinister and vendetta mission against Ngwa people, and like his penchant, he is presenting himself as the newfound voice and saviour of Ndi Ngwa whereas his real motive is to create division in Ngwaland.
So, Ndi Ngwa should be very careful how they play this political chess game. It is unlikely that Chief Charles Ogbonna has changed and if Ndi Ngwa suddenly feel he’s fighting for them, they should be wary of this new found love. The Bible records that Satan can manifest as an angel of light to deceive the unsuspecting Believer (2 Corinthians 11:14).
Those beating the drum of hatred and misinformation to orchestrate a fight between Ndi Ngwa and Governor Alex Otti, will certainly fail because they are not doing Ndi Ngwa in particular and Ndi Abia in general any good.
Clannish politics is one of the things that the sterling performance of Governor Otti has destroyed in Abia’s political lexicon.
The sooner we returned to issue-based politics, the better for Ndi Abia because what Abians have today in Alex Otti, is what other states are earnestly praying to God to have. NDI Abia, please note that when God has opened a door for us, if we use selfish and primordial sentiments to shut the door, help will be permanently far away
from us.
But God forbid!
