DEPUTY SPEAKER KALU HAILS PRESIDENT’S COMMITMENT TO SOUTH-EAST DEVELOPMENT
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has declared that the South-East will deliver over 70 percent of its votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections in appreciation for what he described as the president’s historic commitment to the development of Igbo land. Kalu made this pledge during a grand civic reception organized in his honour by the Atuma Grace Movement in his hometown of Ntalakwu, Ikwuano Local Government Area, Abia State.
According to Kalu, the creation of the South-East Development Commission (SEDC), recently signed into law and funded by Tinubu’s administration, fulfilled a long-standing promise first made by the Yakubu Gowon regime in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War but never honored by successive governments for over fifty years. The Deputy Speaker described Tinubu’s gesture as an unprecedented act of goodwill, stating, “No other President has remembered the promise made to Igbo people after the war like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu… He chose the South East Development Commission which no other President accepted to sign.”
In a ceremony marked by significant political realignment, Kalu formally welcomed several high-profile defectors from the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the All Progressives Congress (APC). Notables among them were Retired Major Akubundu Awa, former Abia House of Assembly Majority Leader Wisdom Ogbonna, former President-General of the Oboro Community Welfare Association Kingsley Uwa, and former Education Secretary of Ikwuano LGA Chief Sir Uche Nwachukwu.
Kalu, however, condemned what he described as efforts by unnamed powers in Abia State to sabotage federal presence and suppress support for Tinubu, especially among traditional rulers. “Election has come and gone. Now is time for governance,” he said. “Restricting traditional rulers from welcoming those working with the President is not the right leadership Abia State is looking for.” He called for political tolerance, urging state actors to stop threatening monarchs and to allow all citizens the freedom to associate with the party and leaders of their choice.
The event’s host, former lawmaker Hon. Emeka Atuma, praised Kalu as the highest-ranking APC leader in Abia and reaffirmed the party’s growing influence in the state. “We are ascending to greater heights… we are not going to be distracted,” Atuma said, adding that even traditional rulers who were instructed not to attend still found a way to express their support. will deliver over 70 percent of its votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections in appreciation for what he described as the president’s historic commitment to the development of Igbo land. Kalu made this pledge during a grand civic reception organized in his honour by the Atuma Grace Movement in his hometown of Ntalakwu, Ikwuano Local Government Area, Abia State.
According to Kalu, the creation of the South-East Development Commission (SEDC), recently signed into law and funded by Tinubu’s administration, fulfilled a long-standing promise first made by the Yakubu Gowon regime in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War but never honored by successive governments for over fifty years. The Deputy Speaker described Tinubu’s gesture as an unprecedented act of goodwill, stating, “No other President has remembered the promise made to Igbo people after the war like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu… He chose the South East Development Commission which no other President accepted to sign.”
In a ceremony marked by significant political realignment, Kalu formally welcomed several high-profile defectors from the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the All Progressives Congress (APC). Notables among them were Retired Major Akubundu Awa, former Abia House of Assembly Majority Leader Wisdom Ogbonna, former President-General of the Oboro Community Welfare Association Kingsley Uwa, and former Education Secretary of Ikwuano LGA Chief Sir Uche Nwachukwu.
Kalu, however, condemned what he described as efforts by unnamed powers in Abia State to sabotage federal presence and suppress support for Tinubu, especially among traditional rulers. “Election has come and gone. Now is time for governance,” he said. “Restricting traditional rulers from welcoming those working with the President is not the right leadership Abia State is looking for.” He called for political tolerance, urging state actors to stop threatening monarchs and to allow all citizens the freedom to associate with the party and leaders of their choice.
The event’s host, former lawmaker Hon. Emeka Atuma, praised Kalu as the highest-ranking APC leader in Abia and reaffirmed the party’s growing influence in the state. “We are ascending to greater heights… we are not going to be distracted,” Atuma said, adding that even traditional rulers who were instructed not to attend still found a way to express their support.
