All Progressives Congress (APC) member representing Bende Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, on Monday said there will be no rerun in Bende, stressing that he won the election that brought him in as lawmaker.
Hon. Kalu made the declaration while speaking with Igbere TV, after his testimony before the Election Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, the Abia Sate capital.
His appearance was for the continued hearing of the legal battle between him and his major opponent in the last election, Chima Ayanso of the Peoples Democratic Partyv(PDP).
Igbere TV reports that Chima Anyaso is challenging the victory of Ben Kalu over alleged contravention of the Electoral Act in the declaration of the poll results for Bende Federal constituency. .
Speaking with Igbere TV after the court session, Hon. Kalu said: “They are not going to call for a rerun because I won the election, and that is final. We worked very hard, I campaigned morning and night and I am very popular in Bende.
“I won Chima Anyanso with 3,560 votes that is the truth. How can a man come to court when I won him in his own unit where he cast his vote. I won him with 61 votes (in his unit), and the entire Igbere votes. So, where is he getting his confidence to approach the court when his own immediate family rejected him at the polling unit? We are standing for the truth and that is what will set Bende free.”
Asked why he appeared in court in person, Ben Kalu said, “We are following the nine yards of the law that is why I came (in person) to honour the invitation of the court and also for me to testify. I gave my testimony to the best of my knowledge, and you saw for yourselves, all their questions had answers coming from me and their lawyers were struggling with questions to ask me because you know in law we say truth flows, there is no junction in truth. You cannot manipulate it, if it is true, it is true.”
He also revealed that out of the eighteen results sheet from the election, fifteen of them had been certified okay by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
On his advice to the people of Bende Federal Constituency, the lawmaker said “they should remain peaceful, not to resort to violence, let them be patient. I have confidence in the judiciary. I am also part of the judiciary as a lawyer before I went into lawmaking. I believe so much in the judiciary. When they see the truth, it doesn’t matter how much money you throw around; they will keep to the truth. The people I saw there, I know they will maintain the truth, I know they are here to do their job credibly and am sure Bende people will be happy at the end of the day.”
Igbere TV correspondent who covered the court sitting reports that over 1000 supporters from all the wards in Bende thronged the Tribunal in solidarity with Hon. Ben Kalu, insisting that the people of Bende overwhelmingly voted the lawmaker, describing him as the “best for Bende in Abuja.”
