Rep defends Kalu over call for Gov. Otti to join APC

Rep. Ginger Onwusibe (LP-Abia) has defended the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Benjamin Kalu’s call for Gov. Alex Otti of Abia to join the All Progressives Congress(APC).

Onwusibe, the leader of the Labour Party caucus in the House, said this in his response to a statement credited to Rep. Obi Aguocha (LP-Abia) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Aguocha had said that Kalu’s open remarks against Otti and Abia were condescending and disrespectful to the governor.

In his response, Onwusibe said, “the Deputy Speaker did nothing wrong by marketing his party, asking Otti to join the APC.

“What is wrong with what Kalu said? If you listen carefully to what he said, he is only marketing his party and indirectly calling on Oti to come and take an APC ticket.

“In the video, he said Otti is his friend; they speak every day, and most importantly, he is performing; he didn’t denigrate the governor in this video unless you have another video,“he said.

The lawmaker said Aguocha would gain nothing by twisting the video to suit his purpose, adding that Kalu’s intention was misinterpreted.

According to him, he knew Kalu since 2021, and worked with him during his campaign to become the Deputy Speaker, and luckily he emerged.

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He said that as the Deputy Speaker, he was bound to hold him in high regard as his leader in the House of Reps.

“If we investigate deeply, I may be the least that has benefited from Kalu among us, but that will not make me deny my friendship and loyalty to him.

“I am a Labour Party member who is loyal to my leader, the Governor, wherever he is, I will be, but for this video, Kalu has done what he needs to do for his party,“ he said.

He said some of his colleagues had gone and blackmailed him before the governor that he and Kalu would pair as Governor and Deputy in 2027.

The lawmaker said that such had never been discussed before, saying, “This is exactly how the PDP forced me out of the party with unfounded lies.”

He urged lawmakers not to heat up the polity and to treat Kalu’s statement as a mere commitment to his party’s victory in 2027.