By James Nwachukwu
A glance at the piece gave him away as either a meddlesome interloper or an agent provocateur. At every turn, envy and hatred dripped in a gargantuan proportion, conspicuously showcasing him more as someone out to execute a hatchet job. He betrayed all journalism ethics and conventions and went haywire on a wild goose chase. He clearly rode on the inglorious highway of malice and ill-will as he pursued an agenda certainly not motivated by public good.
That was Wale Igbintade, who hurriedly put up the piece tilted “Tinubu’s Choice of Uzodimma for South-east 2027 Campaign”, recently published in THISDAY Newspaper, spewing lies after lies. May be, calling him a propagandist would be most appropriate.
Rather than discussing real issues of national importance, his sole aim was to gleefully cast aspersions on the person of the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, PhD, CFR. But he failed woefully.
Igbintade regaled himself with his concocted narrative that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did well by naming Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State the coordinator of Renewed Hope Ambassadors instead of the Deputy Speaker. But he wrote as it suited him, never minded his utter display of ignorance in the public space on a subject-matter he knows absolutely nothing about.
Proclaiming such opinion so loudly and brazenly in the newspaper out of sheer ignorance, Igbintade sure needs some schooling to help him avoid this shameful lexical outing next time.
First, the notion that there exists a struggle for campaign supremacy in the South East is a patent falsehood, bereft of any semblance of truth. Kalu as a stalwart of the APC, has never, at any point, harboured ambitions to lead a political campaign. His role is clear: to lend his voice, influence, and expertise to the advancement of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda, and this he has done religiously and unapologetically.
To further deflate Igbintade’s puerile argument and submission, it becomes very pertinent to ask him if other presiding officers of the national assembly who are also leaders in their geopolitical zones are leading political campaigns? If the answer is no as it is rightly so, his piece then becomes a manifestation of extreme desperation to conflate the Deputy Speaker’s efforts with a purported campaign.
Second, like before, what the Deputy Speaker has done and still does is to set up an independent group to add value to the aspirations of the President just as he did when he partnered his colleagues in the House before 2023 presidential election to set up National Assembly Ambassadors for President Tinubu before his election.
Deepening his support, Kalu also thought it wise to take that route again, working on his own initiative at the Renewed Hope Partners (RHP) to further propagate the message and the deliveries of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda since assumption of office. No contests, no aspiration for whatever positions in the forthcoming campaign.
If at all there are going to be contests on who should head a political campaign, it should be amongst the governors and certainly not between Governor Uzodinma and the Deputy Speaker who are working closely together for the good of their party, APC and the people in the South East region.
On this note, there is then no need for this orchestrated attempt to create confusion.
The truth, unassailable and incontrovertible, is that the Deputy Speaker has embarked on a mission to promote the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda, leveraging his vast network and influence to galvanize support and drive positive change. This endeavour is neither a zero-sum game, nor is it a contest; it is a contribution to the party’s success.
Third, Wale Igbintade also struggled to portray the Deputy Speaker as one with no political base outside his Bende Federal Constituency. This is another lie from the pit of hell. Do I need to remind him that the Abia political landscape quaked from November 7 to 9, 2025 when the Deputy Speaker took the Renewed Hope Partners to 5 local government areas of Ukwa West, Ukwa East, Ugwunagbo, Osisioma and Obi Ngwa of Abia State where he inaugurated the new executives. Does Igbintade also need to be shown the clips and the pictures of the Deputy Speaker’s engagement with the members of the Renewed Hope Partners at the premises of Abia Hotels, Umuahia on October 5, 2026 where there was no space even for a foothold?
I have deliberately refused to make reference to the vast throng that converged upon the Bende Local Government Area Secretariat in Bende, Abia State, on June 1, 2025, for the formal inauguration of the Renewed Hope Partners to underscore the fact that Kalu even outside his constituency is, and shall remain, the pride of Ndi Abia that attracts a crowd of people wherever he goes.
Fourth, Wale Igbintade should be apprised that the Deputy Speaker has never solicited the President for such trappings of office to lead the political campaign, given the weight of legislative responsibilities that demand his utmost attention and cerebral acumen at this time. He should be made to understand that the Deputy Speaker is working in tandem with Governor Uzodinma and Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, who has been named the Chairman of the Renewed Hope Ward Development and Empowerment Council. Kalu also has a blossoming relationship with both governors privately and publicly.
Fifth, if the Deputy Speaker were at odds with Governor Uzodinma who is the principal proponent of Anim state creation, would he have superintended the processes that culminated in the emergence of Anim state? Nay. Kalu is a partner of choice to both governors, as well as to the various state ambassadors and other stakeholders, united in their quest to promote the President’s vision in South East and beyond.
It is imperative at this juncture to state that these mischievous, malicious and futile attacks against the Deputy Speaker should cease forthwith. The instigators of these calumnies would do well to redirect their energies towards serving the people and desist from besmirching the reputation of the Deputy Speaker, whom they have grossly misjudged as their nemesis. Kalu has a job he is focusing on. He does not play to the gallery. He needs no distractions from men who are shopping for a political party to perch on.
Igbintade, in his haste to pen the execrable piece against the Deputy Speaker, just to appease his paymasters, placed ‘Ambassadors’ in the place of ‘Partners’, thereby bringing his motives to the fore. But he should bury his head in shame for writing and publishing same as a Journalist without recourse to editorial ethics and conventions.
*Nwachukwu, a public affairs analyst wrote in this piece as a right of reply from Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
