A support group of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, the Progressive League of Youth Voters, has dragged the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, to President Bola Tinubu and APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje over alleged anti-party activities.
At a news conference Tuesday in Abuja, the group specifically called on the President and the APC national chairman to call the deputy speaker to order in the interest of party unity in Abia state.
Addressing the conference, the National Coordinator of the group, Amb. Usman Shuaibu, said it has become an embarrassment that some leaders of the APC engage in anti-party activities, openly castigating a committed party flagbearer who has given her all to ensure the victory of the party in the last general elections.
Shuaibu said; “The most recent is the sponsored Campaign of calumny against Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha who flew the party’s flag in Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State in the February 25, 2023 National Assembly elections. She is at present the Minister of Labour and Employment (State) Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It is no longer news that Honourable Nkeiruka who is our party’s flagbearer was robbed of her victory by the Labour Party in Abia State, where they deployed unethical means during the Presidential and National Assembly elections against the APC. Recall that some APC groups raised the alarm calling for the restoration of her mandate which she vigorously pursued at the tribunal and won.
“Since her victory at the tribunal, which is the ultimate triumph of APC in Abia State, some highly placed persons in the National Assembly have unleashed a campaign of calumny against her person using mushroom organizations to blackmail Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and the APC in a bid to bully her to abandon her victory at the Appeal Court.
“We make bold to say, that we have identified the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. Benjamin Kalu, who sees the victory of the Honourable Minister as a political threat instead of a blessing as the sponsor of the blackmail against Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.
“Benjamin Kalu has become so desperate that he has resorted to using the name and office of the President Bola Ahmed to blackmail the Honourable Minister who is currently focused on her national assignments.
“We are worried that, why should the victory of the APC and Hon. Onyejeocha in Abia State become a nightmare for Benjamin Kalu? Is there something more to it that he is not telling the APC or his political associates?
“We know how some highly placed persons who are the major beneficiaries of the APC worked against the party in the last Presidential elections in the guise of religion and tribal sentiments, thereby reducing the winning votes of our great Party.
“We recommend a disciplinary action against the deputy speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu and his accomplices to serve as a deterrent to others who may wish to indulge in such dangerous anti-party activities in the nearest future.
“We call on the National Chairman of our great party, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje who is reconciling and repositioning the party for a better tomorrow to immediately call Mr. Benjamin Kalu to order before he destroys the party completely in Abia State.
“Kalu is not from Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency neither is he a member of the Labour Party. One wonders what his problem with the victory of Nkeiruka and the APC is.
“We equally call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call the deputy speaker to order as the APC remains one united family, a united force that will lead us to victory in 2027.
“And if this campaign of calumny continues, we shall have no option than to occupy the National Assembly to demand the resignation of the deputy speaker, an action that would last until we achieve our demand. The APC belonged to all of us and we shall continue to maintain its supremacy.”
