Abia, the commercial heartland around Aba and Umuahia, has had five governors since 1999 and has never voted out an incumbent. Its governors have, however, often fallen out with their predecessors, and in 2023 the state became the first in the South-East to elect a Labour Party governor, ending more than a decade of PDP rule.
1999 and 2003: Orji Uzor Kalu
Orji Uzor Kalu, a businessman and newspaper publisher, won the January 1999 election for the PDP with 370,025 votes, ahead of the All People’s Party’s candidate on 173,873. In April 2003 he was re-elected with 540,983 votes, beating his former deputy, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who ran for the ANPP. Kalu fell out with President Obasanjo, founded the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) and ran for president on its ticket in 2007. In December 2019 a Federal High Court jailed him for 12 years for fraud, but the Supreme Court annulled the trial in 2020 on procedural grounds.
2007 and 2011: Theodore Orji
Kalu’s chief of staff, Theodore Ahamefule Orji, a career civil servant, won the April 2007 election on the PPA ticket, beating the PDP’s Onyema Ugochukwu; the Court of Appeal upheld his victory in 2009. In 2010 he broke with Kalu and returned to the PDP. In April 2011 he was re-elected with 641,158 votes, far ahead of APGA’s Reagan Ufomba on 49,421.
2015: Ikpeazu, Otti and the courts
The PDP’s Okezie Ikpeazu, a biochemist, faced the banker Alex Otti of APGA. INEC declared Ikpeazu the winner after supplementary voting on 25 April 2015, with 264,713 votes to Otti’s 180,882. On 31 December 2015 the Court of Appeal in Owerri ruled that Otti had won, after cancelling results from three local governments. On 3 February 2016 the Supreme Court reversed that judgment and restored Ikpeazu.
2019: Ikpeazu’s second term
Ikpeazu was re-elected on 9 March 2019 with 261,127 votes (60.3%) against 99,574 (23%) for the APC’s Uche Ogah, whose candidacy had itself been fought over in court. Turnout was about 23%.
2023: Labour’s breakthrough
Otti joined the Labour Party in 2022 as Peter Obi’s presidential campaign took off across the South-East. On 18 March 2023 he won with 175,467 votes, double the 88,529 of the PDP’s Okey Ahiwe, who had replaced the party’s original nominee after his death. The courts, up to the Supreme Court, affirmed his victory. By 2026 Otti was the only Labour Party governor in Nigeria, as most other governors moved into the APC.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Orji Uzor Kalu (PDP) | 370,025 | APP candidate | 173,873 |
| 2003 | Orji Uzor Kalu (PDP) | 540,983 | Enyinnaya Abaribe (ANPP) | not published |
| 2007 | Theodore Orji (PPA) | not published | Onyema Ugochukwu (PDP) | not published |
| 2011 | Theodore Orji (PDP) | 641,158 | Reagan Ufomba (APGA) | 49,421 |
| 2015 | Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP) | 264,713 | Alex Otti (APGA) | 180,882 |
| 2019 | Okezie Ikpeazu (PDP) | 261,127 | Uche Ogah (APC) | 99,574 |
| 2023 | Alex Otti (LP) | 175,467 | Okey Ahiwe (PDP) | 88,529 |
Official candidate figures for 2007 were not published in a form we can verify. If you have the INEC return, send a correction from this page.
2027: Otti seeks a second term
Otti is the Labour Party candidate for the 6 February 2027 election. INEC’s final list names Eric Opah for the APC, Kelechi Anosike for the PDP, Kalu Kalu Agu for the ADC and Anthony Kelechi Apugo for the NNPP.
