Ralph Egbu Condemns Ben Kalu’s Attacks Against Otti, Cautions Antics of Opposition

A Labour Party chieftain and former Secretary to Abia State Government, Chief Ralph Egbu has condenmed in strong terms, the recent verbal attacks against Governor Alex Otti by the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu.

Chief Egbu was reacting to the statements made by the Deputy Speaker during the commissioning of projects executed by Otti in the state by the representative of President Bola Tinubu as well as his statements at an event he (Deputy Speaker) held on Sunday,

According to him, Ben Kalu acted out of protocol by giving what would appear like a state of the state address at a function put together by the state Governor.

“Going ahead to try to play down the Governor’s great achievements was a clear act of sabotage, knowing that, Egbu said.

“The Deputy Speaker, given his position, has a huge platform to have canversed his vote on nation building and politics, including direct access to the President, and he ought to have said whatever he wants to say using those platforms and his office from Abuja.

“Then coming to Abia to do so was just playing to the gallery and trying to whip out sentiment that has the potential of turning our peaceful state into a political battlefield, and that one should not be condoned.”

Chief Egbu opined that the language used by the Deputy Speaker was undemocratic and supposed to lead to calls for his resignation from office.

“In saner climes, in places where politics was taken as a very serious pathway to development, by now the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Ben Kalu would have been facing calls for resignation from office for saying that in 2007 they would take Abia.

“That is not a democratic language.
It shows a predisposition, not only to violence but to manoeuvre electoral processes and subvert them with a view to achieving parochial aims, and that shouldn’t be allowed. So he should be cautioned.

Egbu, who is also a former Commissioner for Information in Abia State, equally warned opposition members against antics and politics capable of causing crises in Abia State.

He condemned the opposition for the attempt to demean the state Governor in the build up to the project commissioning ceremonies.

“I hereby warn opposition party members operating within and outside the state against antics and politics capable of turning the state into a killing field, as is the case in most states across the federation.

“I condemn the opposition for the attempt to demean the state Governor through various distractive events and outbursts before the commissioning, that were desired to rubbish the commissioning itself, which took place in Aba and Umuahia.

While insisting that there is no vacancy in Abia Government House in 2027, he said Governor Otti has done far more than enough to earn a merited second term.

He said that Abia state has been very peaceful and its politics devoid of the kind of manoeuvring that often leads to destruction of lives, property, and stalling of development in other states.

He noted that Abia residents have shown the readiness to fight anybody or groups who want to retard current progress being made across the state.