Bende 2027: Chima Anyaso’s Attack on Ben Kalu Backfires as Bende LGA Leadership Faces Scrutiny

Chima Anyaso and his media team appear to have once again demonstrated that political criticism without adequate research can easily become an exercise in self-embarrassment.

Rather than strengthening their political argument, their latest intervention has inadvertently raised fresh questions about accountability, governance and the performance of those directly entrusted with the affairs of Bende Local Government Area.

Dr Alex Otti may also wish to carefully examine the political history and trajectory of those around his administration, particularly individuals whose political relationships with governments in power have followed a pattern of initial association before eventual opposition.

The experience of the Dr Okezie Ikpeazu administration remains a notable case worthy of reflection.

During his visit to Bende yesterday, Anyaso and his team chose an abandoned town hall as the backdrop for their political engagement, using the facility to launch sweeping criticisms against Rep. Benjamin Okezie Kalu over infrastructural deficits in Bende.

But in their apparent determination to indict the Lawmaker of the Year as acknowledged by The Daily Times, they seem to have overlooked a fundamental question:

Where does the responsibility of Bende Local Government Area leadership begin and end?

Bende LGA has an elected chairman and deputy chairman, supported by public resources and entrusted with statutory responsibilities for grassroots governance and development.

Reports indicate that Bende LGA receives between ₦500 million and ₦615 million monthly in allocations. Even if we conservatively work with ₦500 million per month, that translates to approximately ₦12 billion over two years.

₦12 BILLION.

That figure alone should provoke legitimate questions.

Where are the corresponding projects?

What major developmental interventions can the people of Bende tie it to?

What has the local government leadership delivered with the resources entrusted to it?

These are not partisan questions. They are questions of public accountability.

And while Anyaso and his media team are preoccupied with attacking Benjamin Kalu, the record of infrastructural interventions across Bende Federal Constituency presents another dimension of the development conversation.

In Igbere, a very big civic centre has been renovated.

In Okputong Village, a newly constructed storey civic centre provides another example of community-focused infrastructure. In Bende Town, construction is also ongoing on another modern civic centre with office facilities.

These projects, among others, deserve public scrutiny and objective assessment.

It therefore becomes difficult to understand why an abandoned town hall would be presented as the defining symbol of development failure in Bende, while existing and ongoing interventions within the same federal constituency are conveniently ignored.

Ironically, Anyaso’s visit may have achieved the opposite of its intended objective.

Instead of placing Benjamin Kalu under scrutiny, it has opened a broader conversation about the performance of Bende LGA leadership and, by extension, the responsibility of the Labour Party-led administration in Abia State.

The question, therefore, is no longer simply:

“What has Benjamin Kalu failed to do?”

It is equally:

“What have those entrusted with the resources and direct responsibilities of Bende LGA accomplished?”

As 2027 approaches, the people of Bende deserve a political conversation based on facts, accountability, measurable achievements and verifiable records not selective outrage, political theatrics or convenient narratives.

Bende deserves leadership that understands continuity, values development and builds upon measurable progress.

The choice before the people is increasingly clear:

Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu for continuity, development and stronger representation in 2027.

BOK 2027.

AKA ATO!

For Continuity.

For Progress.

For Bende.