By Charles Thomas
Let us begin with numbers, not emotions.
Bende Federal Constituency has existed for 34 years. During that period, Umunna has represented the constituency for 24 years, while Ikwuishi has held the seat for 12 years.
Ben Kalu has represented it for eight years, and Nnamdi Njoku for four years. These figures show that Umunna has occupied the seat longer than all the other groups put together. On that basis, Umunna cannot reasonably claim the seat for many more years.
The argument becomes clearer when we focus on the Fourth Republic, which is where the real debate lies. Nnenna Ukeje, from the North, represented Bende for three consecutive terms in 2007, 2011 and 2015. That gave the North 12 years. She even sought a fourth term before Ben Kalu, from the South, defeated her.
Ben Kalu has so far served two terms, beginning in 2019 and winning re-election in 2023. If the political balance is to be maintained, the South should complete a third term in 2027. That is not a favour to Ben Kalu. It is a matter of fairness: 12 years for the North and 12 years for the South. After that, it will be reasonable to begin a fresh discussion about rotation, regardless of the position of deputy speaker.
That is the argument that should guide this debate. The issue, for now, is not performance. It is equity.
There is, however, an important dimension to the current political debate within Bende that deserves attention.
Under Umunna (Bende North), the communities and political wards comprise Item Ward A, Item Ward B, Item Ward C, Ugwueke Ezeukwu Ward, Alayi Ward, Igbere A and Igbere B Wards.
According to the prevailing position among stakeholders, only the traditional rulers of Igbere Ward A, where Ouk and Chima come from, are said to support the argument for taking the seat that is equitable for Ikwuishi (Bende South). The position being advanced is that the other traditional rulers and Presidents-General remain aligned with the Deputy Speaker’s third-term ambition.
Similarly, in Bende South (Ikwuishi), the position reportedly held by the traditional rulers and Presidents-General is that the Deputy Speaker should complete his third term before any fresh negotiations on rotation begin. Their argument is that no previous arrangement had, before now, governed the relationship in a manner that would justify interrupting the South’s current turn before completing the three-term cycle.
The Double Standard
There is also a clear double standard in the argument against a third term. Senator Orji Uzor Kalu is widely believed to be behind the campaign against Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu’s third-term bid.
Yet Orji Uzor Kalu himself is seeking a third term in the Senate and is reportedly interested in becoming the Senate’s presiding officer.
He is also the same politician who, years ago, opposed Senator Uche Chukwumerije’s attempt to secure a third term for Umunneochi.
This raises an important question: how can someone who once stopped another politician from seeking a third term now turns around seeking third term but asking a sitting deputy speaker to leave office before completing the turn of his zone? It is unfair to demand that the South give up its third term while personally seeking one. Any principle being preached should first be applied to oneself.
There is another example. In 2015, Orji Uzor Kalu supported Nnenna Ukeje’s bid for a third term, even against his own party’s candidate at the time, the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PP).
A third term was acceptable then because it favoured his preferred candidate. It is now being presented as unacceptable because it favours someone else. That looks less like principle and more like political convenience.
If Igbere wants the same standard applied across Bende, that standard must also begin at home.
Why is there no campaign asking Orji Uzor Kalu to step aside so that another local government in Abia North can produce the zone’s senator? Why are the people of Igbere not organising such a campaign?
Ben Kalu’s Record
Once the issue of fairness is separated from political double standards, and hypocrisy then attention can turn to the performance of Rt. Hon. Ben Kalu.
Ben Kalu does not need his achievements as his main argument. His record is an added advantage. From Orji Uzor Kalu to Chief Mba Ajah and Nnenna Ukeje, supporters of Ben Kalu argue that no previous representative has delivered as much for Bende, or delivered it as quickly, as the current deputy speaker.
This, we say, is not the case of a politician holding on to office simply for the sake of power. It is the record of a representative who has used his time to build and deliver results. But even that record is only the icing on the cake. The main issue is that the South has earned a third term on the same basis that the North previously enjoyed its own 12 years.
Many stakeholders have criticised what they describe as false claims and a politically sponsored campaign against the deputy speaker. They allege the campaign is linked to Orji Uzor Kalu’s ambition to become the Senate’s presiding officer. From this point of view, Ben Kalu is seen as a possible obstacle to that ambition.
The argument also appears to ignore political history. When Ihedioha became deputy speaker, it did not prevent Ekweremadu from becoming deputy Senate president. One person’s rise in one chamber did not automatically block another person’s ambition in the other chamber.
There are also allegations that the real plan is for Ben Kalu to lose the general election rather than merely lose an internal contest at the National Assembly level. If that is true, then the issue is not really about Umunna or Ikwuishi. It is about the personal ambition of one politician who is allegedly using another political party as a tool.
The objective is clearly not necessarily to help Chima Anyaso win, but to remove the House of Representatives deputy speaker seat from Bende so that a private political ambition can succeed. Everything else, the argument goes, is only a cover story.
Igbere Traditional Ruler’s Intervention
The traditional ruler of Orji Uzor Kalu’s community appeared align with these allegations when he touched on this issue when he publicly asked Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu to reconcile with Orji Uzor Kalu. He warned that Bende might not enjoy peace without such reconciliation.
That statement naturally raised questions. Why should Ben Kalu reconcile with Orji Uzor Kalu when, officially, they are not contesting for the same seat?
The traditional ruler’s intervention revealed who may be behind the agitation. It’s allege that traditional rulers are being encouraged or paid to make videos which are then circulated to influential people across the country in an attempt to blackmail the deputy speaker.
The above form part of the wider claim that the campaign is being driven by personal political ambition and not by genuine concern for zoning or fairness.
The Political Ground Is Shifting
The political situation in Bende is also changing.
Ikwuishi has more polling units than Umunna, and that bloc appears to be moving away from Igbere’s position. The calculation is simple: if Igbere insists on controlling both the House of Representatives seat and the Senate seat, it may lose the support of its allies in other parts of Bende.
This is not a threat. It is basic political mathematics. Igbere ignores it at its own risk.
So the real question has never been whether Ben Kalu has already had his turn. The real question is whether Igbere is prepared to choose.
Will it support a third Senate term for Orji Uzor Kalu or a first term in the House of Representatives for Chima Anyaso?
It cannot reasonably demand both
History shows that a group that tries to hold every seat at once may eventually lose all of them. In Bende, the wiser path may be to respect fairness, acknowledge the existing political balance, and avoid allowing personal ambition to destroy collective political strength.
