Residents of communities across Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State have credited Senator Orji Uzor Kalu with attracting road projects and other interventions to the area, saying his representation has made a visible impact on their communities.
The residents spoke on Friday when Kalu, who represents Abia North Senatorial District, continued his ward-to-ward tour of Ohafia, visiting Abia Ohafia, Akanu, Ndi Uduma Awoke, Isiugwu and Army Barracks Ward.
At Abia Ohafia, residents recalled Kalu’s role in attracting a road project to the community, while similar testimonies were recorded at Akanu, Ndi Uduma Awoke and Isiugwu, where residents highlighted road interventions linked to the senator.
Community leaders and residents, including Elder Idika Mba, Arch. Ugbe Kalu and Mrs Elizabeth Ojah, said the projects provided tangible evidence on which residents could assess Kalu’s representation.
Elder Mba said residents could point to physical projects executed during Kalu’s tenure, particularly roads which, according to him, had improved access to their communities.
“We are talking about what we can see in our communities. These roads are here, and our people use them every day. That is why we say we have felt the presence of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu as our representative,” he said.
Arch. Kalu also highlighted the importance of the senator’s continued engagement with his constituents, saying effective representation should combine development with regular interaction with the people.
“For us, representation should not end in Abuja. Our representative should come home, listen to the people and bring development closer to them. We have seen projects, particularly roads, and we want more of them,” he said.
Mrs Ojah said residents particularly valued interventions that directly improved their daily lives, noting that road projects benefited different categories of people in the communities.
“When a road is constructed in your community, everybody benefits from it. Our farmers, traders, children and families use these roads. We appreciate what has been done, and we are asking that more should be done for our communities,” she said.
Responding to the testimonies, Kalu explained that some of the roads attracted to Abia North were initially classified as Category D projects with limited funding provisions.
He said the original scope of some of the projects was largely limited to grading rural and farm roads but that his intervention helped expand the scope, leading to the tarring of some of the roads.
“Some of these roads were Category D projects with very little funding. The original idea was basically to grade farm roads, but we pushed and intervened to ensure that some of them were tarred. We will continue to push for more projects and also work towards the completion of the existing ones,” Kalu said.
The former Abia State governor said the ward-to-ward tour was also an opportunity to give an account of his stewardship and listen directly to constituents on areas requiring further government intervention.
He thanked the people for their reception and assured them that he would continue to leverage his position and contacts to attract federal projects to communities across the senatorial district.
Kalu was accompanied on the tour by APC chieftains, including the party’s candidate for Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency, Chief Ikenna Ukwa; House of Assembly candidate, Destiny Uchechukwu; APC leader, Chief Uche Ogboso; State Chairman of the OUK Movement, Hon. Ojisi Sunday Ogbaja; Coordinator of the Tripartite Movement, Prince Emma Nwosu; former council chairman, Barr. Emeka Kalu, PhD; and former lawmaker, Chief Mba Ukaha, among other party leaders and supporters.
The APC leaders, who addressed supporters at different stops, pledged to mobilise across Ohafia and work towards delivering the local government area for the party in the 2027 general election.
Kalu, who has represented Abia North in the Senate since 2019, is seeking another term in the upper legislative chamber.
