Igbere traditional rulers in Bende Local Government of Abia State have thrown their weight behind the 2027 bid of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu to return to the parliament.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers during Kalu’s courtesy call in the course of his “Meet Your Constituents” tour to the traditional rulers on Wednesday in Igbere, His Royal Majesty (HRM) Eze Joseph Ukaoha Anyanta applauded Kalu for his outstanding legislative service, recalling that no one before him since the return of democracy in 1999 matched his service in terms of quality representation, legislative and infrastructure records.
The traditional rulers also gave their royal blessings to the Deputy Speaker, pledging their unflinching support for his legislative deliveries.
He said: “Yours is an outstanding legislative service, the best since 1999. Yours is different and we are seeing it all over the place. We are giving you our support so that you can do your work in peace.
“Anyone who wishes you evil will not succeed. We pray to God to give you the grace to achieve your lofty dreams for Bende. Whatever we can do to make this a reality, we will do it.”
Similarly, the women, youth of Igbere and non indigenes resident in Igbere also pledged their support for the Deputy Speaker, commending him for quality representation so far.
At Ibina Hall in Onu-Ibina Igbere, the women gathered in their numbers, singing and dancing in solidarity with the Deputy Speaker’s bid.
The same was the situation at Amankalu Igbere where the non indigenes resident in the town also gave their blessings to the Deputy Speaker.
The people lauded Kalu for attracting numerous projects to Bende, noting that all the 13 electoral wards of the constituency have witnessed unprecedented improvement in roads infrastructure, construction and renovation of school building amongst other people-oriented projects.