The member representing Ohafia South State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Kalu Mba Nwoke (Etiokwe), has responded to the recent challenge by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate for Abia State, Barrister Kalu Kalu, over projects executed by Governor Alex Otti’s administration in Ohafia Local Government Area.
Kalu, who hails from Ohafia, had during an interview on Arise TV’s The Morning Show challenged Governor Otti to identify a single project executed by his administration in Ohafia, saying he would abandon his 2027 governorship ambition if one could be identified.
He also claimed that Ohafia Local Government Area had received more than N16 billion in allocations over the past three and a half years without corresponding visible state government projects.
Reacting in a statement, Nwoke, who described himself as one of the two elected representatives of Ohafia in the State House of Assembly, said the ADC candidate’s claim was contradicted by projects he said had been commissioned, ongoing works and other interventions across the local government.
According to the lawmaker, one of the most prominent projects is the 22.5-kilometre Abiriba–Ohafia Highway, which Governor Otti commissioned on May 28, 2026, alongside the Abiriba Ring Road. The highway was subsequently named the Chief Otisi Kalu (Abbot) Road. The commissioning was independently reported by the Abia State Government’s Ohafia Local Government portal and the governor’s official website.
Nwoke said the project alone disproved the assertion that the administration had not executed any project in Ohafia.
“The claim that the Otti administration has done nothing tangible in Ohafia Local Government Area is inaccurate and contradicted by publicly available records, commissioning events, official government statements and on ground evidence,” he said.
The lawmaker also cited the 41.4-kilometre Ohafia–Arochukwu Highway, which Governor Otti flagged off for reconstruction in August 2024 at Old Soldier Junction, Ebem, Ohafia. The road, which connects communities across the Ohafia-Arochukwu axis, had been in a deteriorated state for decades. Contemporary reports confirmed the flag-off and the state government’s intervention on the federal road.
Nwoke further listed the construction of the Amaekpu Ring Road, Asaga/Amuke Road, the Ndi Orieke Road, the Abia-to-Umuchi-Ihechiowa Road being undertaken through the Greater Ohafia Development Authority (GODA), as well as other internal roads and connecting routes as evidence of government intervention in the area.
On electricity, the lawmaker said the Otti administration had intervened through the completion of a 20-kilometre 33KV power line from Ihechiowa in Arochukwu to Ebem in Ohafia, terminating at a newly installed 7.5MVA injection substation.
He also highlighted interventions in the health sector, including the ongoing reconstruction and upgrade of Ohafia General Hospital and the retrofitting and functionalisation of Primary Healthcare Centres across communities in the local government.
Among those cited were the Elughu Community Health Centre in Nkporo and the Ania Primary Healthcare Centre in Akanu Ohafia, as well as facilities in Amangwu, Amaekpu, Ihenta, Okagwo Agboji and Ugwufie.
The lawmaker particularly questioned how the ADC candidate could be unaware of the reported retrofitting and functionalisation of the Ukpacha Public Health Centre in Akanu Ohafia, which he described as the candidate’s immediate community.
“It is very surprising to note that a candidate of a political party in a state didn’t know of a project delivered in his immediate community, Akanu Ohafia. This shows the level of disconnection between the said governorship candidate and his immediate community,” Nwoke stated.
Beyond roads, power and healthcare, the lawmaker said communities in Ohafia had also benefited from solar-powered boreholes and water-reticulation projects, citing Isiugwu Ohafia, Ozua Amogudu and Nkporo.
He also described the creation of the Greater Ohafia Development Authority (GODA) as a major institutional intervention by the Otti administration. He said the agency was established to coordinate development across Greater Ohafia and its environs, adding that the agency had become a vehicle for infrastructure and socio-economic development in the area.
Nwoke said the creation of GODA, its board and the ongoing development activities under the agency should also be considered when assessing the administration’s interventions in Ohafia.
He argued that governance should be assessed through verifiable projects and records rather than political claims, urging members of the public to visit project sites and examine the level of work for themselves.
“Facts, not rhetoric, should guide public discourse. The people of Ohafia, like other Abians, can visit these sites, review official commissioning records and assess the work themselves. Governance is measured by delivery, not by selective denial of visible progress,” he said.
The lawmaker also challenged Kalu to honour the pledge he made on national television concerning his 2027 governorship ambition, following the identification of projects executed or commissioned in the local government.
“I, the sitting House of Assembly member representing you, hereby challenge you to carry out your threats as you stated on national television that you will resign if shown only one project executed by the current government in Ohafia LGA,” Nwoke said.
He further urged the ADC candidate to avoid statements that, in his view, could portray Ohafia negatively before the state government, noting that the governor had appointed several people from the area to government positions.
Nwoke specifically pointed to the position of Deputy Governor, currently occupied by Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu, as well as other appointments involving indigenes of Ohafia.
The lawmaker’s response comes amid growing political activity ahead of the 2027 Abia governorship election, with infrastructure delivery and the distribution of government projects across the state’s local government areas increasingly featuring in political discourse.
While Kalu Kalu has questioned the visibility of state government projects in Ohafia, publicly available records confirm that the Abiriba–Ohafia Highway was commissioned in May 2026, while the Ohafia–Arochukwu Highway reconstruction was flagged off in August 2024.
The competing claims over the scale and impact of government projects in Ohafia are therefore likely to remain part of the political debate as the 2027 election approaches.
