A political pressure group, the South East Youths for Democracy (SEYD) has accepted the candidacy of Hon Benjamin Kalu for the position of deputy speaker in the House of Representatives.
The group pushes for the region’s visibility in national politics to address the marginalisation and exclusion of the South East in the country’s leadership.
In a press release made available to newsmen in Owerri, the Imo State capital yesterday by the group’s coordinator, Fabulous Wisdom, he said it would amount to a political harakiri for the South East zone to be excluded from the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.
Wisdom said the South East has a plethora of qualified persons in the House of Representatives, especially those of the APC extraction, which is the ruling party at the centre.
He said it is only natural that one person be projected to occupy the seat of deputy speaker of the Green Chamber which is the post zoned by the National Working Committee of the ruling party to the region.
Wisdom submitted that the capacity of Hon Kalu shows in the number of bills which he has to his credit, the highest in the entire South East with 43 to his name and three assented to by the president.
“On motions on national issues of importance, he ranks the highest with 22 to his name. On representation, Hon Kalu has attracted the comparative highest in percentage of value of infrastructure attracted to the South East which runs to billions of naira,” Wisdom said.