Chief Mascot  Uzor Kalu, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressive Congress APC has  rejected what he described as "...a purported zoning arrangement by the State Working Committee (SWC), which allegedly ceded the party’s governorship ticket to the Abia Central Senatorial District"

Kalu in a statement signed by the Media Team of his Campaign Organisation described the arrangement as not only frivolous but also reckless, unconstitutional, and entirely alien to all known precedents of the party in Abia State.

" If such a decision were to be made, it cannot be taken unilaterally by the SWC without the consent of all stakeholders at a fully expanded caucus meeting", he argued 

Mascot Kalu argued that since the inception of the APC in Abia State, there has never been any zoning arrangement for the party’s governorship ticket.

" In 2015, Nyerere Chinenye Anyim from Abia South clinched the governorship ticket with the support of all party members, against High Chief Ikechi Emenike, who also contested for the ticket. 

"In 2019, Hon. Martins Azubuike from 6 Central contested the primaries alongside Prince Paul Ikonne from Abia South and Uche Sampson Ogah from Abia North, with the latter emerging as the party’s candidate. 

"In 2023, High Chief Ikechi Emenike from Abia Central clinched the ticket, even though other aspirants, like Uche Ogah, purchased forms and participated in the primaries. 

"We, the Mascot Uzor Kalu Campaign Organisation, unequivocally reject this purported zoning arrangement in its entirety and will not accept it under any circumstances. Let it be made abundantly clear that any surreptitious attempt by self-serving elements within the party to weaponise the SWC in an attempt to frustrate the governorship ambition of our principal, Mascot Uzor Kalu, will be met with hardcore, lawful, and unyielding resistance.

"We call on all supporters of Mascot Uzor Kalu within the party to remain calm, resolute, and steadfast. Having failed in their desperate attempt to impose a fraudulent consensus, those stoking crisis and fanning the embers of division have now resorted to another divisive and ill-conceived scheme, one that is already dead on arrival.

"The APC in Abia must not be reduced to a playground for undemocratic impositions. The will of the people, expressed through a free, fair, and credible primary process, must prevail at all times", he asserted