The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has urged people of the south-east to vote for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Sunday in Abia, Kalu, who represents Bende federal constituency, asked Igbo not to be “sentimental” with their votes.
He called on Igbos to be “strategic and pragmatic” in their political electoral choices, noting that votes should be invested, not wasted.
The legislator said building strong political alliances across the country, especially south-west, where Tinubu hails from, is sacrosanct to the emergence of a south-east presidency.
“I want us to remember that this president has shown leadership. The policies were tough, but the president was steadfast and courageous,” he said.
”He defended those policies, stood by them, and today we are starting to benefit from them. So, any man who did this is supposed to be praised, and I am happy that it is the government of APC that made this happen.
“Igbo, let’s invest our votes. Igbo, let’s not waste our votes. The time of wasting our votes to prove a sentimental point is gone. What you play politics with is numbers, not sentiment.
“If you carry your vote and dump it where it does not count toward success, you have wasted your opportunity to go to the negotiation table. Why do we ask for dividends if we have not made any investments?
“There is no company in this world that will pay you dividends when you have not made any investments. The time of the investment has come; in the next few months, we’ll be expected to make investments. Are we going to make investments, or are we going to waste investments? The votes we have in our hands are the currency for investments.
“When the time comes, I plead with the Igbo, let your votes count. In the political calculation, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is where we will invest our votes, and it will count. That’s the truth. Let’s set aside our sentiments and forget our emotions. He’s from the south; the southern political corridor must stay united and be consolidated so that we are seen as standing as one.”
According to Kalu, President Tinubu, in his two years in office, has demonstrated a willingness to work with the region, stressing that the president has shown no discrimination in the allocation and execution of projects.
In May 2025, the lawmaker said the south-east region will give Tinubu over 70 percent of their votes in 2027. Tinubu got only 6 percent in the South-East in the 2023 presidential election.