The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has been told to take over the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State and the South-East region.
According to the statement signed by Levinus Nwabughiogu, the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, the APC leaders made the plea when they paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja. They avowed that as the highest political officeholder from the South East, Kalu remains their rallying point to the Presidency.
The APC leaders were led by Senator Chris Adighije, a former lawmaker from Abia Central. Others are Senator Nkechi Nwogu, who also represented Abia Central; former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Nwogu; former Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Henry Ikoh; pioneer leader of APC in Abia State, Chief Sam Nkire; former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Stanley Ohajuruka; former Speaker of the state assembly, Chief Martins Azubuike; former member of the House of Representatives, Sam Onuigbo; former member of the state assembly, Dr Blessing Nwagba; and a national commissioner in PenCom from South East, Chief Anyim Nyerere, amongst others.
Speaking on their behalf, Senator Adighije also expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for giving the South-East zone a sense of belonging in the nation’s political hierarchy.
Adighije said in his address to Deputy Speaker Kalu: “We are here to pledge our support because you now hold a position of responsibility and trust. Charity begins at home. So, whatever has happened in Abia, we are here to ask you to quickly do the needful. So that, Abia, all of us, will come together.”
He said further: “We are all here to plead with you, and we know you are a man of action, to build bridges across the lines in Abia and, indeed, the South East. So that Abia State and, indeed, the rest of South East, will take what is rightfully their own. We cannot talk about marginalisation anymore with you as deputy speaker.”
