Leave Rt. Hon. Ben Kalu Alone -Hon. Dame Mrs. Blessing Nwagba, PhD
The All Progressives Congress Senatorial Candidate for Abia South Senatorial District in the 2023 election, Hon. Dame Mrs. Blessing Nwagba, PhD has flayed the rising diatribe against Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives following a video, which surfaced online where he was said to have boasted in an interview he granted a local TV Station that Dr. Alex Chioma Otti (OFR) would be the last Labour Party Governor in Abia State.
He averred that as the Number Six Citizen in the nation that he is duty-bound to deliver his state, Abia to his party and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a gift in appreciation of his political largesse in the Southeast geo-political zone, especially the creation of Southeast Development Commission.
Since then his outburst appeared to have ruffled so many feathers in the state and beyond.
According to his teeming detractors, the statement was premature, unwarranted and inimical to the interest of the people and stability of the state.
The backlash from the people against him has continued to swell with many baying for blood. They advised him to help his party, APC to fix the nation’s hydra-headed problems before coming to take over Abia State.
Be that as it may, the controversy has also gained fervent support from some of his colleagues and notable APC Chieftains including Hon. Dame Mrs. Blessing Nwagba, PhD.
In a chat with newsmen, the indefatigable political Amazon and legendary APC stalwart in the nation wondered why Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu’s innocuous statement should heat up the polity and called on those trying to make a mountain out of a molehill to desist from doing so forthwith.
According to her, the hue and cry is uncalled for. After all, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu is a great politician and legendary APC Chieftain. As a renowned party leader, he has the right to advocate for his party as well as to woo more people into the party, particularly the Number One Citizen in his state, Governor Alex Chioma Otti to strengthen the All Progressives Congress (APC). So the onus lies on the governor to accept or not to accept.
Instead of berating Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu for expressing his feelings, he should be applauded for attracting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s magnanimous attention to the Southeast.
Come to think of it, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti has been with us all along. If he has now found a platform, which he used to actualize his own ambition, there is nothing wrong in Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu trying to woo him back to APC, she said.
Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu has taken a lot of flaks for his comment within and outside the Labour Party. People should stop vilifying him further for expressing his views. They should wait till 2027 to see whether what he said would turn out to be a masterstroke or terrible blunder.
The outcome will certainly decide how history would remember him.
