3
Total tracked
1
Kept
1
Partial / mixed
1
Broken
Kept
Partial / mixed
Broken
In progress
Kept
The promise
Implicit in contesting in 1999 and 2003: serve out the mandate under civilian rule.
Assessment
Kalu was elected in 1999 on the PDP platform, re-elected in 2003, and served two full terms to 29 May 2007, handing over to Theodore Orji.
Partial
The promise
Kalu campaigned on turning Abia into an industrial and commercial state rather than one dependent on government salaries and federal allocation.
Assessment
Kalu built a metropolitan road network in Aba that a later, politically opposed successor, Alex Otti, has publicly credited as a development template, but Abia was not transformed into the industrial, enterprise-driven state he promised and remained allocation-dependent. A 2019 conviction for ₦7.56 billion in fraud over the tenure was nullified by the Supreme Court on a procedural ground — the trial judge had been elevated to the Court of Appeal — with a retrial ordered.
Broken
The promise
To manage state revenue and contracts for public purposes rather than private benefit.
Assessment
The EFCC alleged Abia State lost about ₦7.65 billion during the term through payments routed to companies linked to Kalu, principally Slok Nigeria Limited. He was convicted in 2019, though the Supreme Court set the conviction aside in 2020 on procedural grounds and ordered a retrial.