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Borno South Senator Ali Ndume has said for the US lawmakers to indict former New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, presidential candidate, Rabi’u Kwankwaso as fundamentalist means something may be fishy somewhere.
Ndume said this on Friday while fielding questions in an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.
He expressed shock that Kwankwaso’s name was mentioned, stressing that he wants to know how the former Kano state governor got implicated or mentioned.
The Eastern Updates reports that United States lawmakers initiated a new bill aimed at increasing accountability for human rights abuses in Nigeria.
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The legislation, Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026, contains provision for potential sanctions against Fulani militias and former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Reacting, Ndume said, “What I’m sure is that this is a bill introduced that has gone through both first reading in both the Senate and the House. I’ve been trying to get my hands on the copy of the bill and what it contains but it’s not yet in the public domain, but it is only when I get the details that I can react.
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“In the summary, I know that the bill is recommending sanctions and even visa ban and confiscation of assets and all that.
“For them to mention Kwankwaso, I think something may be fishy somewhere Nothing to worry about, if somebody is actually clean.”
The family of Eastern Nigeria’s most celebrated premier has publicly rejected an alliance of former Abia State governors working to deny incumbent Governor Alex Otti a second term, describing their campaign as disconnected from grassroots sentiment and contrary to the democratic right of voters to choose their own leaders.
Uzodinma Okpara, son of the late Dr. Michael Okpara who served as Premier of Eastern Nigeria, delivered the rebuke Wednesday at a community gathering in Ohuhu, Umuahia North Local Government Area, in one of the most symbolically significant endorsements Otti has received since the political storm erupted.
The statement was addressed directly at former governors Orji Uzor Kalu, Theodore Orji, and Okezie Ikpeazu, who have jointly threatened to prevent Otti from winning re-election in 2027. Kalu publicly boasted that Otti would be a one-term governor, a declaration that triggered swift condemnation from multiple groups across Abia State. Uzodinma said the coalition of former governors does not speak for the electorate and that the people of Abia retain the sovereign right to determine who governs them. He urged citizens to rally behind the governor rather than be swayed by political maneuvering from figures associated with what he described as an era of stagnation.
On allegations that Otti’s administration inflates contract costs, Uzodinma challenged the accusers to produce verifiable evidence reconciling government revenue with spending before making public claims. He argued that the governor’s visible achievements across infrastructure, sanitation, and education made such allegations difficult to sustain.
Umuahia North local government chairman Smart Iheoma reinforced the message, stating categorically that Otti has not diverted financial allocations meant for his council, and offering to be held personally accountable for every naira flowing into local government coffers. The gathering also heard from residents who described how the major towns of Umuahia and Aba, once overwhelmed by uncollected refuse and deteriorating roads, had undergone measurable improvement since Otti took office in May 2023.
Infrastructure achievements credited to the administration include the full rehabilitation of the 6.5-kilometer Port Harcourt Road in Aba, handled by Julius Berger in what was described as the company’s first major engagement in the state, the reconstruction of a 60-kilometer arterial road linking Abia North to the state capital, and the replacement of a colonial-era bridge at the Nmuri River that had been a long-standing danger to motorists.
The political battle over Otti’s future has been widening for weeks. The former governors and veteran politicians formed an alliance with stated intentions of handing Abia back to the All Progressives Congress in 2027 and delivering the state to President Bola Tinubu. They also threatened legal action against Otti for conducting government operations from his private residence in Isiala Ngwa South rather than from Government House in Umuahia.
Otti responded defiantly during a monthly media chat with journalists, saying he had not violated the Nigerian constitution and would not be distracted. “Somebody said he will sue me for not operating from his house in Umuahia; well, I am waiting for the suit,” the governor said, adding that construction of a new Government House was underway and would be completed before his current term ends.
The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria’s Abia State chapter, comprising all 17 council chairmen, had already moved to distance themselves from the former governors’ position, passing a formal vote of confidence in Otti at a press conference in Umuahia in January. Reading from a joint statement, ALGON Abia chairman Chinedu Ekeke said Otti’s achievements “speak clearly and visibly across all 17 LGAs of the state” and that “the unease behind these statements arises not from poor governance, but from the stark contrast between Governor Otti’s achievements and the abysmal records of past administrations.”
