Drama unfolded on Saturday in Abia State as a crowd chanted Peter Obi’s name while Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu attempted to campaign for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.
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Mr Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency, took the stage to campaign for President Tinubu during the Item Okpi Festival.
The festival is an annual cultural celebration of the people of Item Ancient Kingdom in Bende Local Government Area of Abia.
PREMIUM TIMES obtained a video clip which showed Mr Kalu attempting to appeal to the crowd to support Mr Tinubu’s re-election bid.
But the crowd, in apparent rejection of his plea, chanted Mr Obi’s name endlessly.
Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, is the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
“Tinubu will do more for Abia. Vote for Tinubu in 2027. He is the best for Nigeria,” Mr Kalu said at the festival.
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The crowd immediately began chanting Mr Obi’s name.
An unidentified woman on the stage began to sing the popular on-your-mandate song, a pro-Tinubu campaign song.
But the crowd intensified the chant, ignoring the deputy speaker’s efforts to stop it.
“It doesn’t look to me like you people still want the university President Tinubu is planning to build for you,” Mr Kalu said in the Igbo language, apparently frustrated.
The crowd ignored the deputy speaker and intensified the chant.
“These people are not from Item,” Mr Kalu said in the Igbo language.
While the deputy speaker spoke, an unidentified woman on the stage began to sing a pro-Obi song, but he instructed her to sing a pro-Tinubu song instead, which she did.
The crowd continued to chant Mr Obi’s name even when Mr Kalu moved to the front of the stage and tried to solicit support for Mr Tinubu’s re-election bid.
“Obi, Obi!” the crowd continued chanting.
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APC and 2027 in Abia
Like Mr Tinubu, Mr Kalu is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, Abia State is under the administration of Governor Alex Otti, a member of the Labour Party (LP).
Despite being a member of the LP, Mr Otti is considered a political ally of Mr Obi.
Messrs Obi and Otti were leaders in the same LP faction when the party battled an intense leadership crisis, before the former governor left the party for the African Democratic Party and later the NDC.
Mr Otti, who has remained in the LP, recently said that while he supports Mr Tinubu as president, his party, the LP, has its presidential candidate.