By: Odeh Favour Adiya
The Labour Party candidate for Bende Federal Constituency in the 2027 general election, Chima Anyaso, has assured constituents that there will be no electoral malpractice in Abia State, pledging that adequate security would be provided to protect voters and their votes.
Anyaso gave the assurance on Sunday during a stakeholders’ meeting, where he said the Labour Party administration led by Governor Alex Otti was committed to conducting free, fair, and credible elections.
Speaking at the event, Anyaso firmly declared: “I’m speaking on behalf of Governor Alex Otti that there will be no rigging of elections anywhere in Abia State come the 2027 general election. Anybody, like the governor said, that is planning to write the election should go and write his will first. There will be no writing of election results in Abia State.”
He added that while candidates would campaign and canvass for votes, the government would ensure that every legitimate vote counted.
Emphasizing the security arrangements, he stated: “There will be adequate security to protect our votes.
Do not be scared of anybody calling himself whatever number. Two is bigger than one.”
Speaking on zoning, Anyaso recalled an agreement reached in 2019 at the palace of Eze Patrick Ude in Bende, where stakeholders resolved that the Bende Federal Constituency seat should rotate between the Bende North and Bende South political blocs after the incumbent completed his tenure.
He argued that fairness and equity required the seat to return to the Bende North bloc, just as he supports President Bola Tinubu completing two terms before power rotates to another region.
Addressing the commitment made by political leaders, Anyaso noted: “In America, a handshake is an agreement. We agreed in 2019 that after eight years, it will come back to us. Our people are not people you can easily deceive.”
He also dismissed allegations linking him to recent controversies over budget allocation, stating: “That which God has destined and whose time has come, nobody can stop it.”
Anyaso urged constituents to remain calm, continue supporting Governor Otti’s vision, and work towards the victory of Labour Party candidates in the 2027 elections.
He further assured the people of Bende that he would not disappoint them if elected, citing his track record in business and community service, adding that he had spent more than 20 years in the oil and gas, real estate, and hospitality sectors without any record of failed transactions.
Highlighting his philanthropic activities, he said he built a nursery school for the Ndebende community at the age of 26 and later expanded it with a primary school.
Detailing his community service, Anyaso said: “Since 2008 till today, we have been training over 500 children for free. They don’t pay a dime. It is there and verifiable.”
Responding, a constituent, HRH Eze Uwakwe Ukaegbu, confirmed that traditional rulers in Bende Local Government Area had agreed that the Bende Federal Constituency seat should return to Bende North (Umunna Bloc) after the completion of the eight-year tenure of the current occupant, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, which began in 2019.
The monarch, who is the Third Deputy Chairman of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers and the traditional ruler of Igbere in Bende, said the agreement was jointly endorsed by traditional rulers across the constituency to uphold the principle of rotational representation between Bende South and Bende North.
Confirming the pact, HRH Eze Ukaegbu said: “I was part of the signing of the document. I signed the agreement. Eze Akaliro, Patrick Ude, we were the four who signed the agreement as leaders of traditional rulers, which had 65 monarchs from Bende.”
