UMUAHIA/ABUJA – The Office of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has issued a fierce rebuttal to the Abia State Government, accusing Governor Alex Otti’s administration of peddling “propaganda” and a “deluge of lies” regarding land allocation and project execution in Bende Local Government Area.
In a press release on Wednesday, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, the Deputy Speaker’s office categorically denied the state government’s allegations that he had demolished a school building. It stated that the land for a federal housing estate was “donated by the Umuoche community,” not allocated by the government, framing the governor’s earlier statement as “proof of ignorance.”
Regarding the contentious school site, the statement claimed that after Kalu planned to build a smart exam centre on a plot with a “dilapidated, age-stricken mud school building,” a government contractor expressed interest in the same spot for a state smart school project. It alleged that the state insisted on that location only to block Kalu’s project and that no development has occurred there since.
The statement further accused the state government of stifling other projects, including a 50-bed hospital facilitated by Kalu in Igbere, and of letting officials loose “like rabid dogs” to hurl abuses. While noting the governor’s cooperation on an Industrial Court project, it condemned what it called a “hypocritical disposition” that undermines governance.
Finally, the office clarified that Kalu’s political invitation to Governor Otti was a “brotherly call” with no animosity, dismissing the interpretation of a shut door as a misrepresentation aimed at sowing discord.
Read the initial accusation: Abia Govt Counters Deputy Speaker Kalu, Accuses Him of Destroying State School
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Disclaimer: This report details the contents of an official press release from the Office of the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives. It presents one side of a political dispute with the Abia State Government, whose earlier claims are contested point-by-point.
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