Ben Kalu : Why Igbere should choose between a third term senate or a first term house of reps

As the 2027 political season gradually takes shape in Bende Federal Constituency, an increasingly familiar argument is beginning to dominate conversations: that the time has come for someone else to occupy the seat currently held by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu.

At the centre of the argument is the claim that Kalu has had his turn and should therefore make way for another aspirant, particularly Chima Anyaso.

That position is legitimate as a political opinion. What deserves scrutiny, however, is the principle behind it.

In a democracy, no aspirant should be compelled to withdraw simply because another person believes it is his or her “turn.” Elections are contests, not inheritance arrangements. Voters not traditional titles, private negotiations or political pressure groups ultimately determine who represents them.

The question, therefore, should not merely be whether Benjamin Kalu has represented Bende long enough. The more important question is whether the people of Bende believe another candidate has done or match his level of representation, upto the position of the Deputy Speaker the last 7 years.

If the answer is yes, then the political process already provides the mechanism: campaign, persuade voters, build structures and meet him at the polls.

But if the argument is that Kalu must withdraw because his particular community has supposedly enjoyed too much representation, then proponents of that argument must be prepared to apply the same principle consistently across the political landscape.

Selective zoning is where the argument becomes complicated.

Communities in Abia state have produced representatives at different times, while other communities have supported candidates outside their immediate geographical or political blocs.

I’ve even heard reports of a traditional ruler from Igbere personally urging Kalu to reconsider, that’s fine but where is that same energy directed at Senator Orji Uzor Kalu?

Where is the delegation from Igbere demanding he step aside so another local government or community in Abia North Senatorial District can finally produce the zone’s next senator?

Nobody’s asking that question. And that silence tells you everything about whether this is really about fairness, or about which political camp benefits.

If some people in Igbere wants the moral authority to ask Benjamin Kalu to step down, the price of admission is asking their son Orji Uzor Kalu to do the exact same thing.

As other political allies from around Bende and other Local government are beginning to pull away from the candidacy of OUK who it has been alleged is the one behind the no third term agenda of Igbere , after supporting Nnenna Ukeje for third term bid against his then PPA candidate Hon Benjamin Kalu in 2015, while still promoting his own third term bid to the senate .

Many stake holders have frowned at the sponsored greed and falsehood emanating from the alleged quarter of the senator representing Abia North to truncate the third term bid of the deputy speaker since he has an ambition to contest for the presiding officer of the senate and sees the deputy speaker as an impediment to his candidacy.

Unfortunately, he has not paid attention to history which was written when ihedioha’s deputy Speakers bid did not affect Ekweremadu’s deputy senate presidency.

It is alleged that he would rather that Rt Hon Benjamin kalu loses at the general elections than struggle at the National Assembly elections . At the end it is not really about Umunna and Ikwuishi, it is about selfish interest of a man who is using another party as a tool to achieve it .

He does not even want Chima Anyaso to win , he wants it out of Igbere to secure his selfish ambition . Every other thing is falsehood

The traditional ruler of his community said it when he asked the deputy speaker publicly to go and reconcile with OUK if not Bende will be be stable and the deputy speaker was wondering what kind of reconciliation when he was not contesting with ouk .

The king sold OUK out as that masquerade behind all these agitations .

Investigative journalism has it that he is the one pushing the narratives even up to the highest quarters in Nigeria that there was zoning agreement which the deputy speaker does not want to keep .

Lies from the pit of hell . They pay the traditional rulers to make a video and he will use the video to share to all quarters to blackmail the deputy speaker . The greed of the Igbere man

Look at Aba South and North, and the double standard writes itself.

The representative for Aba South and North in the National Assembly comes from Igbere, even though there are candidates from Ngwa extraction who are just as qualified, arguably more so because evidential records had it that Chimaobi out performed him in his short time in the green chamber yet Ngwa has never organised a campaign to force that seat back “home.” No unprintable insults have been traded over it in public.

And yet the benefits of that representation flow disproportionately back to Igbere rather than to the Aba communities actually being represented with barely a whisper of protest from Igbere’s own kings and unions asking their son to step aside for Ngwa’s sake.
You cannot demand a standard from Bende that you refuse to apply to your own house.

I don’t subscribe to the politics of “it’s your turn now.” I subscribe to the idea that whoever brings the sharper political strategy, the stronger track record, better representation and the broader coalition should win, full stop, regardless of how many terms they’ve already served or which community they hail from and Ben Kalu ticks all the boxes

And let’s not pretend the Umunna bloc has clean hands in this argument either.

Let’s journey back to 2019, after Nnenna Ukeje completed twelve years representing Bende. Chima Anyanso ran under the Umunna banner to succeed her. Had he won, does anyone seriously believe Umunna would have voluntarily handed the seat to Ikwuishi in the name of fairness? Ask that question honestly, and the answer exposes the double standard sitting underneath all of this “it’s someone else’s turn” talk.

And then there’s the matter of Ofuji.

Any alleged private arrangement struck with Benjamin Kalu that doesn’t reflect the actual will of Bende people needs to be abandoned plainly and immediately. No king, no council of traditional rulers, has the unilateral authority to negotiate Bende’s political future behind closed doors.

Bende’s youths and women’s organisations are not spectators in this process. They are stakeholders, and any legitimate agreement about the constituency’s future must carry their signatures too.

let’s stop pretending that selective calls for “someone else’s turn” are about fairness. They’re about convenience. And convenience has never been a substitute for consistency.