In the wake of social media campaigns against the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, RT. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu on the alleged overlap in his NYSC discharged certificate and his Law School Result; a foremost group in South East Nigeria, has called on Nigerian security to fish those sponsoring the blackmails.
The group, South East Progressive Forum, in a statement Monday evening, warned those who are being sponsored to push negative narratives against Kalu on social media, saying, no amount of blackmails would derail the Deputy Speaker from carrying out his good work for the people of Bende Federal Constituency and Nigerians at large.
Kalu emerged Deputy Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives in June 2023, gaining total supports of almost all the 359 other members, making him the number 6 citizen and the highest Political figure from the south east, Nigeria, under the present dispensation.
But his reign has not been without media attacks and criticisms from his own Abia State, where a member of Labour Party, Alex Otti is the executive Governor.
The latest is the narrative that the Deputy Speaker’s academic record has an alleged overlap between his NYSC service year and his attendance at the Nigerian Law School, Enugu Campus.
A group known as Abia Patriots has been at the forefront of this social media fireworks, stamping that one Mr. John Aipkopko Martins has reportedly sent a petition to that effect to the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee, to investigate what they described as ‘fraudulent enrolment’ on the Roll of Legal Practitioners at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
But, while waving it off through a statement on Monday, the Spokesperson of South East Progressive Forum, Chief Ihuoma Okoronkwo, accused the Petitioner and the Group, of being sponsored to “dent their own brother”.
The Forum raised serious concern over the activities of Abia Patriots since 2024, ascribing their activities to the dictates of the Abia State Government.
“Everybody in Abia knows that the group, which is not registered anywhere before now, was conscripted to be attacking the Deputy Speaker in 2024. If you Google Abia Patriots, the only things you would see about them are those attacks on Benjamin Kalu. Curiously too, the same group sees nothing wrong in whatever Alex Otti does as Governor, rather, they are on social media praising him everyday.
“With such dubious antecedents, you need no Prophets to tell you who the paymaster is. Those with sound minds in Abia and outside observers know they are agents of the State Government. But we are assuring them that, no amount of blackmails or social media attacks will deter the Deputy Speaker from performing his lawful duties. Nobody even takes them seriously. Aside the social media and a few local media in Abia which promote their mischievous activities against Kalu, you would never see any respected medium publish it”, the statement said.
The Forum urged the Deputy Speaker not to allow anyone or group of persons from his home state discourage him from executing the good plans he has for the entire Nd’Igbo and Nigerians.
Okoronkwo said, “what the jobless miscreants and their paymaster don’t know is that, Kalu is not only representing Bende Federal Constituency, but he has the entire 360 Federal Constituencies at hand, as a Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives, this local politics would only provoke him to look elsewhere in the other Constituencies, which the people of Abia would suffer it.
“The Deputy Speaker is well respected amongst his colleagues and celebrated across Nigeria, as one of the finest Parliamentarians the country is proud to produce. Just about a week ago, he was awarded the Lawmaker of the Year, having appraised his legislative sagacity in sponsoring 127 Bills within 2 years, a feat no Lawmaker has attained in Nigeria; amongst the many laudable projects across South East and Nigeria. He does not deserve to be insulted at all by any normal human being in Nigeria, not to talk of his own State, who is the chiefest beneficiary of his good works”.
On the allegation of the overlap between his NYSC and Law School certificates, the Forum called for calm as the Legal Disciplinary Committee would attend to the petition and brief Nigerians in due time, saying, the Committee is a professional body that would not be compromised by any Governor.
“What some people don’t know is that, like Medical Doctors, Lawyers sometimes, have overlap between their NYSC and Professional certificates. Infact, some would be mobilized for NYSC and their Law School admission would come out the next month and they would not want to miss the opportunity, so they enrol. Same way someone would be admitted for Masters or post graduate course and their mobilization would come from NYSC the next moment, and they would run it concurrently.
“This same man presented himself for elections in 2019 and 2023 and was cleared by INEC in both elections and won. These miscreants can not be more knowledgeable than INEC, or the professional body that enrolled Benjamin Kalu as a Lawyer and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. We believe the disciplinary committee would do its work perfectly and no Governor can compromise that. They are professionals”, the statement added.
