The All Progressives Congress in Abia State has adopted former Minister of State for Science and Technology, Chief Henry Ikoh, as its consensus governorship candidate ahead of the 2027 election.
The decision was reached on Thursday following hours of consultations among key stakeholders and members of the party’s State Working Committee.
The endorsement was formalised through a resolution signed by 13 out of the 18 members of the committee, including the State Secretary, Chief Chidi Avaja; Deputy Chairman, Chinedu Ihesinulo; Deputy Secretary, Benedict Godson; and the State Organising Secretary, Emeka Okorafor.
Party leaders said Ikoh was chosen based on his leadership qualities, political experience, and capacity to unite the party ahead of the 2027 governorship election in Abia State.
According to the resolution, the APC leadership believes the state requires visionary leadership and described Ikoh as a credible and widely accepted aspirant capable of leading the party to victory.
Part of the resolution read, “We, the undersigned leaders and stakeholders of the 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.
“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 development followed the withdrawal of another aspirant, Mascot Uzor Kalu, earlier in the day, leaving Ikoh as the only visible contender in the race.
Speaking with journalists in Umuahia, the State Organising Secretary, Emeka Okorafor, said the committee decided to back Ikoh after concerns emerged over the sudden appearance of what he described as a “strange aspirant” whose membership status in the party could not be verified.
“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,” he said.
Okorafor added that although Ikoh emerged as the sole aspirant, the party still planned to conduct affirmation exercises across the state in line with APC guidelines.
He also disclosed that appointment letters had already been issued to party officials to oversee direct primaries across the state.
The adoption of Ikoh is expected to reshape the political dynamics within the Abia APC as the party intensifies preparations for the 2027 general election.
