We are promising the President, 70 to 80 per cent of votes from Igboland.
The Igbo people of South-East will give President Bola Tinubu more than 70% of their votes in the 2027 general election, according to Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Deputy Speaker made the promise at a gala dinner hosted in his honor by the Atuma Grace Movement, a political organization founded by Hon. Emeka Atuma, a former member of the House of Representatives, which took place on Friday in Ntalakwu, Ikwuano Local Government Area, Abia State.
Kalu, who was also bestowed the chieftaincy title of “Dike Eji Aga Mba”—”The Peoples Warrior”—by King Larry, the traditional monarch of the Ntalakwu ancient kingdom in Ikwuano Oboro, promised that the people of the South-East will remain loyal to President Tinubu’s government.
Kalu claims that the development will be a kind of compensation for President Tinubu’s support of the Igbo people’s land development efforts.
He recalled that the Gowon regime had promised the region’s people reconstruction, rehabilitation, and reintegration following the 1970 civil war—which killed more than three million people—but had failed to deliver.
He said that Tinubu had made good on this promise by establishing the South-East Development Commission (SEDC).
Kalu said, “No other President has remembered the promise made to Igbo people after the war like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Fifty years came and passed, administrations came and passed, none of them deemed it right to fulfill those promises made to Ndi Igbo and only President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took it upon himself and said, there must be a platform to respond to those proposals made to Ndi Igbo. And he chose South East Development Commission, which no other President accepted to sign.
“He answered our problem to enable us to develop the rural communities in Igboland. He signed the SEDC bill into law and has funded it even when naysayers said he won’t. He loves Ndi Igbo, and we Igbos remember those who love us.
“We are promising the President, 70% to 80% of votes from Igboland. Let us continue to remain as people who love peace and unity.
“I heard the cry of the traditional rulers who mentioned he was asked not to come and receive the Deputy Speaker by the powers-that-be in the state, when we were received in Bende, we heard that they were asked not to receive those from the Federal Government, asked not to go to any function promoting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“It ought not to be so! Election has come and gone. Now is time for governance. Restricting the traditional rulers from coming to welcome those working with President is not the right leadership that Abia state is looking for.
“Those who are threatening the traditional rulers, please, we beg you, allow them the freedom to exercise the mandate of the people. Abia state should be free for everybody to express where they want to belong and who they want to follow.”