The Abia State Chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state of resorting to what it described as “tribal incitement, false propaganda and hate mongering” ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Labour Party made the allegations in a statement reacting to two recent publications by the Abia APC, including a statement titled “Leave APC Out of Your Politics of Bigotry, Hate and Divisiveness”, in which the APC accused the Labour Party of engaging in clannish profiling.
The LP also faulted what it described as an allegation by the APC of an alleged plot by the party to burn the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Collation Centre for Bende Federal Constituency.
The Labour Party described the APC’s allegations as baseless, saying they were designed to create tension and portray the opposition party negatively before the people of the state.
According to the statement, “the Abia State Chapter of the Labour Party has read with utmost disgust and amusement two recent rambling press statements issued by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State.”
The party alleged that the APC was contradicting itself by accusing others of tribal politics while allegedly engaging in similar rhetoric.
“The publicity secretary of the APC falsely claims that their party is not interested in tribal incitement, yet every single spokesperson of the APC, including the desperate spokesperson who forced himself on the APC gubernatorial candidate, spends every waking hour on social media instigating Abians against one another along clannish lines,” the LP alleged.
The party further claimed that its review of APC statements issued on September 18 and 19, 2026, showed what it described as a deliberate attempt to “incite hate, brew bad blood, manufacture false alarms, and fracture the peaceful co-existence of our people.”
It added that the APC leadership and its governorship candidate should take responsibility for what the LP described as their campaign strategy.
“The APC leadership and their gubernatorial candidate must be men enough to own up to the undeniable truth, tribal incitement, false propaganda, and hate mongering are the only political campaign strategies left in their empty arsenal,” the statement said.
The Labour Party further argued that the APC’s recent statements were motivated by what it described as frustration over the political situation in Abia.
It claimed that the opposition party had initially intended to use the non payment of pension gratuities as a campaign issue but lost that opportunity following the commencement of gratuity payments by the administration of Governor Alex Otti.
“APC had initially marshaled out plans to weaponize the non payment of pension gratuities for their political campaigns.
“That cheap plot was thoroughly deflated when His Excellency, Governor Alex C. Otti, systematically resumed the payment of gratuities as planned by his administration,” the LP stated.
The party also accused the APC of subsequently turning to what it called “clannish warfare,” alleging attempts to exploit ethnic sentiments and create divisions among Abians.
According to the LP, “having failed to find any genuine administrative flaw or corruption to launch a campaign of calumny against the New Abia Administration, the APC sank to the gutter whipping up clannish sentiments, manufacturing ethnic slurs, attempting to create division among brothers, and plotting to unleash political violence.”
The Labour Party further claimed that attempts to provoke clannish unrest had failed to achieve the desired effect.
It said Abians had rejected what it described as divisive politics and maintained that the Otti administration had continued to execute projects across the state’s 17 local government areas.
“Abians have completely rejected the APC’s divisive tactics because, for the first time in over two decades, they are witnessing a leadership that is genuinely true to them, a government under Governor Alex Otti that is developing every single Local Government Area in Abia State simultaneously, without bias, clannish sentiment, or favoritism,” the statement said.
On the allegation concerning the INEC Collation Centre for Bende Federal Constituency, the Labour Party described the APC’s claim as an “imagined plot” and accused the party of raising a premature alarm.
“Having realized that their clannish incitement strategy has failed, the APC went to the public space on Saturday, wailing, crying foul, and levelling wild allegations about an imagined plot by the Labour Party to burn down the INEC Collation Centre for Bende Federal Constituency,” the LP said.
The party said it would address the matter by examining what it described as the facts surrounding the Bende Federal Constituency and urged residents to distinguish between verified information and political allegations.
Bende Federal Constituency is represented in the House of Representatives by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who was returned unopposed as the APC’s candidate for the constituency in the party’s 2027 primaries.
The LP’s latest statement comes amid heightened political activity in Abia ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the APC and Labour Party increasingly exchanging accusations over political conduct and campaign narratives.
