Some indigenes of Abia State have launched a blistering response to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe over his recent remarks questioning the legitimacy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election, insisting that the senator lacks the moral authority to make such claims.
Abaribe had alleged that President Tinubu did not win the election and that the Labour Party candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, was the actual winner. However, reacting to the statement, several Abians accused the lawmaker of hypocrisy, arguing that his own victory in the 2023 Abia South senatorial election was even more contentious.
According to the critics, the Labour Party candidate, Engr. Chinedu Onyeizu, was the rightful winner of the Abia South contest, but the election was allegedly manipulated in favour of Senator Abaribe. They contended that the same standard the senator applied in questioning the presidential election should equally be applied to his senatorial mandate.
The critics described Abaribe as a beneficiary of what they termed a “fraudulent electoral process,” insisting that he has no moral standing to challenge the outcome of the 2023 presidential poll while unresolved questions trail his own re-election.
One of the prominent voices in the criticism is Chief Emperor Ogbonna, a lawyer and advocate of credible elections, who faulted the senator for condemning alleged irregularities at the national level while allegedly benefiting from similar irregularities at the state level.
Barrister Ogbonna stated:
“Hehehe.
Abaribe said Tinubu never won the election.
Someone should ask Abaribe whether he himself won his own election when almost everyone in the South East was voting Labour Party due to the Obi wave on that day in all the three ballot papers given to voters irrespective of who was representing Labour Party in the Senate and House of Representatives.”
Another sharp reaction came from Don Torch, an outspoken Abian, who questioned both the senator’s electoral legitimacy and his record in office in a statement that has since gained traction.
He wrote:
“Dear Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, did Ndi Abia South truly vote for you?
The same way you believe Nigerians voted for Peter Obi but Tinubu was declared winner is the same way Abia South voted for Engr. Chinedu Onyeizu, yet you were declared the winner.
Sir, you have no moral justification to speak against Tinubu. From day one, he has empowered people. Can you tell us how many youths you have empowered in Abia South in the past 20 years?
Sometimes I try to mind my business and focus on surviving in this harsh economy, but I get irritated seeing someone who should be preparing young leaders for succession constantly resurfacing whenever elections are near, merely to deceive already disillusioned constituents.
I have no respect for youths who openly declare support for a man who has made no tangible impact on his constituents—whether in roads, infrastructure, education, skills acquisition, or human capital development.
Oh, I almost forgot—I am from Abia Central, where we do not tolerate non-performance. Representing people for 12 years without results is unthinkable here. Winning a second term is already difficult, let alone a third, fourth, or fifth.
Abia South truly deserves some pity.”
Adding to the chorus of criticism, the Abia State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Eric Ikwuagu, said:
“The Abia South Senate was actually won by Onyeizu but another was declared winner. Kettle calling pot black!!”
In a similar vein, Chief Uwaoma Nwachukwu remarked bluntly:
“Abaribe’s victory in 2023 was more fraudulent than Tinubu’s.”
The reactions highlight growing dissatisfaction among some Abians over long-standing political leadership and perceived lack of development and empowerment at the grassroots. For these critics, Senator Abaribe’s comments on national electoral credibility have reopened unresolved grievances surrounding the 2023 Abia South senatorial election.
As debates over electoral integrity continue to shape Nigeria’s political discourse, the pushback against Senator Abaribe underscores a broader demand among citizens for consistency, accountability, and measurable impact from elected officials at all levels of government.
