10th Assembly: Kalu Declares for Speaker, Promises Parliamentary Independence

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has formally declared his intention to vie for the position of speaker in the 10th National Assembly.

Kalu, who is representing Bende federal Constituency of Abia State on the platform of APC, made this known when he briefed the press on Wednesday night in Abuja.

He said: “Yes, I’m interested in that position. I’m interested in becoming the next speaker of the House of Representatives.”

Kalu said that he deserved to be rewarded with the position of the speaker because of his loyalty to the party and for campaigning for the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, at the risk of his life.

He said: “The APC gave me a platform. I was the only member of the APC that fought and won for the House of Representatives in Abia State.”

The lawmaker stressed that “I defended my party. I took bullets for my party. I projected my presidential candidate even when it was like a taboo to do so in the south-eastern region. My office received hundreds of bullets or more because I was preaching APC.

“It is time for a reward. If there is loyalty to the party, loyalty should always be rewarded to stimulate further loyalty. I stood firm to win the Bende Federal Constituency for my party. I’m the only surviving APC House of Representatives’ member from the entire Abia State. It means that I have something to offer and I defended my party.

“It is time for my party to let my people know that I didn’t make any mistake by standing by the party. Let them give us what is my due based on my qualification. I pledge to abide by the party’s zoning arrangement even if it does not favour me. As a party man, I’ll oblige my party”

He noted that he believed “in the supremacy of the party — that is key. You can have your aspiration, you can dream but it must be within the control of the platform for which you got to the House.”

Kalu explained that he is competent to lead the House and that no lawmaker from the south-east has been a speaker in four decades.

“Nigeria needs to bridge the gap in ‘diversity insensitivity’ to foster cohesion. I am bringing on board transformative, and legislative intervention that is based on innovation and it is only people like us who have been equipped that will be able to bridge that gap.”