Former Attorney General of Abia State, Chief Umeh Kalu, has revealed how the long feud between the erstwhile former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and his successor, T. A Orji started.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who spoke on the politics of his home state, said good governance in Nigeria is hampered by sycophancy and eye-service by political appointees. According to Chief Umeh, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who is now the Chief Whip of the Senate, is the patriarch of modern Abia politics, as well as the undercurrents of succession in 2023 in the state.

Speaking in an interview, Chief Umeh, narrated how the war between the two former governors started.

He said...

"Orji Uzor Kalu is patriarch of modern Abia politics. They were all in PDP which Orji Uzor Kalu was and they had issues. That led to the formation of PPA. In PPA, Orji needed a successor and that was what brought about T. A Orji, his Chief of Staff. And then, PDP was divided. You had the Onyema Ugochukwu camp and the Orji Uzor Kalu camp. Those in Orji camp were in PPA. People in Ugochukwu’s were Senator Nkechi Nwogu, Col Akobundu and a whole lot of them.

"It was a long battle and the election came up and I’m sure you know the issue of the incarceration of T. A Orji and some other people who were with Orji Uzor Kalu and all that. T. A Orji was in prison when the election was conducted, it was Orji Uzor Kalu that was all over the place campaigning for him and eventually, he won. He started a government under PPA. It was at this point that I joined them. I wasn’t part of them. I joined the Orji Uzor Kalu camp as a lawyer. It was he (Orji Kalu) that engaged me to defend T. A Orji when EFCC invited him in Lagos.

"I was the lawyer who had that brief. I was the one who took him to EFCC and they were about eight of them. Later, Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) joined me, he led me in the matter. Later, Olisa Agbakoba came into the matter when we were at the Federal High Court. The person who handled the matter finally was Prof Osipitan. He led me into getting T. A Orji out of prison. In all these, it was Orji Uzor Kalu who briefed us. He was the one who picked the bills. Two years after, I was made the A-G in 2009.

READ MORE: https://abacityblog.com/ex-abia-attorney-general-reveals-how-orji-uzor-kalu-t-a-orji-war-started/