Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu says he supported Femi Gbajabiamila, former House Majority Leader for the Reps Speakership position due to his “amazing” personality and wealth of experience in legislative business.
Ben Kalu is All Progressives Congress (APC) member representing Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives, and one of the staunch supporters of Gbajabiamila throughout his campaign for the Reps number one seat.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Igbere TV over the weekend in Abuja, Ben Kalu said the personality of the Lagos lawmaker motivated him to throw his weight behind his ambition for the Reps Speakership, despite having other candidates for the post from his party.
He said he saw competence and wealth of experience in the four-term lawmaker (now serving his fifth term), which made him not to relent in his support for him till the inauguration morning when he cast his vote.
According to him, Femi Gbajabiamila has what it takes to effectively lead the 9th House of Representatives, having been in the Parliament for 17 years.
Ben Kalu who hinted that Tuesday (inauguration day) remains one of his most memorable day in the lower legislative chamber, said he feels fulfilled having seen Gbajabiamila emerged Speaker.
He said; “The personality of Hon. Gbajabiamila was what captivated my attention to support his Speakership bid.
“Why I was aspiring to represent my people I watched him closely over a number of years. During my electioneering campaign, one of my supporters told me, ‘I will only elect you to the next level if you promise me you will be like Hon. Gbaja.’ You see, he’s a prominent person. I checked him out and I saw he has what we are looking for in a Nigerian legislator. I saw competence, I saw wealth of experience in him. He has put in 17 years in building a career in the legislature. He has an impeccable report of doing a good job. I pitched Gbajabiamila to work with him to realise his aspiration during one of the dinners before he won the election. He did not approach me, I did and I told him ‘you are going to be the next speaker and I want to work for you.’ It was at the presidential villa that this took place. I asked him to give me his number which he did and from that day till Tuesday when he was elected speaker, I was committed to the task. I was committed because I noticed when I came closer to him that beyond his official look, he appeared to be a very friendly person and he reflected that during our conversations. He is very caring, compassionate. He will take your call in the middle of the night and try to find a solution before morning. Everybody who had issues ran to him and he even spent his own personal money (on others) trying to make sure that everything works out perfectly.
“I saw the humane part of him when I drew closer to Gbajabiamila, that strengthened my commitment to working with him. I followed him to tour the whole country there was never a meeting I was absent. I never missed any single campaign. I followed him because I don’t believe in giving half and half. I believe in giving the total package. I was fully with him till the very moment I cast my vote for him. I was fully convinced also when the party took a position about him. I said to myself ‘this position has been zoned to the South West, you need to support a candidate from the South West.’ There were about three of them but I chose Gbajabiamila and I stayed with him till the end. Our political leader in the (Abia) state (Orji Kalu) also took a position and stood by him. Party is supreme, its decision is ultimate. And I have no regret. Outside the day I won my election, Tuesday was one of the best day for me. Guess what Gbajabiamila told me after he emerged speaker, which is very rewarding. He said to me after I had my official handshake with him as speaker; ‘You are one of those that believed in me and you remained consistent from the beginning to the end.’ And I said to him, I will be more loyal in the next four years because I believe in the joint campaign for national development. We need to protect and preserve it within the next four years. I told him the journey has just started.”
Ben Kalu said in the next four years “we would provide the yardstick that could be used to rate us with the kind of laws we would make and also how we would work towards improving the lives of Nigerians in this next level.”
