Posted by ABUJA-The Progressive League of Youth Voters, an All Progressives Congress APC support group, has dragged the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, to President Bola Tinubu and APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, over alleged anti-party activities, alleging that he was working against the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha.
However, Kalu quickly distanced himself from the alleged calumny campaign against the minister, advising her to focus on the pressing responsibilities of her job and refrain from raising false alarms through proxies.
However, at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the group particularly requested that the President and the APC national chairman summon the deputy speaker to order in order to maintain party unity in Abia State.
Amb. Usman Shuaibu, the group’s National Coordinator, said it has become a disgrace that some APC officials indulge in anti-party actions, publicly criticizing a committed party flagbearer who has given her all to ensure the party’s win in the previous general elections.
“It is no longer news that Nkeiruka, our party’s flagbearer, was robbed of her victory by the Labour Party in Abia State, where they used unethical means to defeat the APC in the Presidential and National Assembly elections.” Remember that some APC groups raised the alarm, demanding that her mandate be restored, which she actively pursued before the tribunal and won.
“Since her victory at the tribunal, which is the ultimate triumph of the APC in Abia State, some highly placed persons in the National Assembly have unleashed a campaign of calumny against her person, blackmailing Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and the APC in a bid to bully her into abandoning her victory at the Appeal Court.”
“We boldly state that we have identified the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Benjamin Kalu, as the sponsor of the blackmail against Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who sees the Honourable Minister’s victory as a political threat rather than a blessing.”
“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 advises Onyejeocha to focus on employment creation and to avoid false alarms.
In response to the charge, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu distanced himself from the alleged campaign of slander against Onyejeocha, urging her to focus on the pressing responsibilities of her office and refrain from raising false alarms through proxies.
“However, the fact that Onyejeocha has not yet disassociated herself from the press conference is cause for concern and casts aspersions on her person as to what manner of a minister would create the impression of someone purposefully courting trouble where none exists,” he said.
“From what is right and true, Onyejeocha is a sister whose integrity would be brutally attacked by a group that chooses to drag her name into false accusations.”