According to a report by The Sun on Thursday, May 14, 2026, an aspirant seeking the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Abia South Senatorial District, Prince Paul Ikonne, has declared confidence that the incumbent lawmaker representing the district, Enyinnaya Abaribe, will not make a return to the Senate after the 2027 general election.
Ikonne, who is preparing to challenge Abaribe for the senatorial seat, stated that people within the district had already made up their minds against another term for the current senator.
According to him, residents believe that after spending close to two decades in the Senate, there are no visible development projects across the district that can justify such a lengthy stay in the National Assembly.
The APC figure maintained that many constituents have become dissatisfied with what they see as a lack of meaningful progress in the area despite Abaribe’s long period of representation.
He argued that the district requires a fresh approach and new leadership that would focus on delivering tangible benefits and projects to the people.
Ikonne also criticised the four-year single-term proposal earlier put forward by former Anambra State governor Peter Obi.
He argued that such an arrangement would not be beneficial to the South East region, insisting that whenever the opportunity comes for the region to produce a president, it should enjoy the same eight-year tenure opportunity previously accorded to other geopolitical zones.
During a media interaction held in Abuja on Thursday, Ikonne stated that support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election was growing across the South East.
He said governors from the region, including the governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, alongside key political figures and stakeholders within Igboland, were aligning with efforts aimed at securing Tinubu’s re-election.
The former Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) also recalled that earlier in the week he had unveiled a grassroots political movement in Abia State known as “Asiwaju Tsunami in 2027.”
