Bende Traditional Rulers ( BTR ) have asserted that based on the 2019 agreement that the elective office to the Bende Federal constituency in the House of Representatives should rotate among their Umunna ( Bende North) and Ikwuisii ( Bende South ) Blocs, the current Deputy Speaker ( DS ) of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon Benjamin Kalu, is not eligible to contest for a third term.

The Agreement which was titled “Bende Federal Constituency Memorandum of Understanding on Political Rotation, Equity and Peace, Effective from the 2019 Electoral Cycle, Between Bende North ( Umunna Bloc) and Bende South ( Ikwuisii)”, provisioned that both blocs shall in turns produce the Constituency representative.

Both Blocs according to the Agreement are to peacefully resolve disagreements, reject violence, threats, communal hostility and actions capable of creating division, including upholding equity, fairness, justice, unity and peaceful coexistence.

The Agreement noted however that though anybody, including DS Kalu, has the constitutional and legitimate right to contest for election, it is the electorate that would use their votes to decide the person’s success or failure.

The BTR who said that DS Kalu of Bende South/Ikwuisii Bloc, will in May, 2027 complete his second term, and would not eligibly re-contest for a third term, when it would be the turn of the Umunna/Bende North Bloc to produce his successor who ( successor ) would by the same agreement, serve for two terms from May 29th 2027.

But against this agreement, DS Kalu is re-contesting for a third term on the APC platform , while Dr Chima Desmond Anyaso of the Umunna Bloc is the candidate of the Labour Party.

BTR declared that this rotation Agreement was proposed by DS Kalu in writing, discussed and formerly signed by them in 2019, and that it was based on this that DS Kalu was elected in 2019 and 2023.

Buttressing this, the BTR released the Agreement Copies to Journalists on Friday, after their meeting at the Igbere palace of His Royal Highness Eze Uwakwe Ukaegbu, the Chairman, Abia North Council of Traditional rulers, who said he was among those that signed the agreement.

They vowed that their released Documents were the true Copies of the signed Agreement, with an attached Copy of the proposal letter they stated DS Kalu wrote to them dated February 4, 2019, marked
” Proposal Regarding Representation And Rotational Understanding In Bende Federal Constituency”.

These Agreement Copies which were read out to journalists by Eze Ebiri Okoro included therein the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Rotation, Equity and Peace, among others, as well as the said letter written by DS Kalu which was jointly signed by him and the Director – General, Benjamin Kalu Campaign Council, Hon. Emma Trumps Eke. The letter also outlined the two-term rotation arrangement between Umunna and Ikwuisii Blocs.

According to the BTR , the agreement clearly stated that “no individual, community, or political party shall make the Constituency seat as their permanent entitlement, and even identified the communities belonging to each bloc.

While Bende North / Umunna Bloc comprises Item, Igbere, Alayi and Ugwueke/Ezeukwu, Bende South/ Ikwuisii comprises Bende, Itumbauzo, Umuhu-Ezechi, Ozuitem, Uzuakoli and Umuimenyi/Nkpa.

Surprisingly, the Director General , Benjamin Kalu Campaign Council, Hon Emma Trump Eke, who was stated to have co-signed DS Kalu’s letter to the Bende traditional rulers dated February 4, 2019, dissociated from the circulated agreement.

In his reaction marked ” TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,
RE: PURPORTED PROPOSAL ON REPRESENTATION AND ROTATION IN BENDE FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY, he stated that he was made aware of a document circulating as a purported proposal on representation and rotation in Bende Federal Constituency, stating that the document was said to have been signed by him Rev. Emmanuel Trumps Eke, and his Principal, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu.

He stated categorically that neither him, nor his Principal, signed any such document describing their doing so as false and an outright fabrication.

” According to him, “The traditional rulers, whose names are listed as signatories and witnesses to the document, have, at various fora, denied that any such document exists or that they signed it”.

He therefore stated without equivocation, that the document in circulation is fake and an outright forgery, stressing for the avoidance of doubt, that no such conversation or agreement about tenure and turn took place with anyone, to the best of his knowledge.

He added with due respect to traditional rulers that “questions of political representation and rotation are matters for the political stakeholders of Bende like Bende Political Forum to deliberate on; they cannot be settled by attributing an agreement to traditional rulers without their consent.

” It is regrettable that this purported document is being used to advance a narrative about “turn” and political agreements. Those making such claims should focus on presenting their plans and proposals directly to the people of Bende, rather than relying on a forged document”.

He therefore urged the public to exercise caution and verify the authenticity of any document before sharing it, opining that those responsible for producing or knowingly distributing a forged document may be held accountable in accordance with the law”.