Bende 2027: The Phantom Accord, Politics of Forgery and Desperation

By James Nwachukwu

There are politicians who are intentional and deliberate about their pursuits and there are those who merely dither. Chima Anyaso belongs to the latter category, a political neophyte whose public conduct oscillates between vacillation and political infantilism. His trajectory in Abia State offers little in the way of ideological constancy. Rather, it reveals a pattern of inconsistency that has now culminated into unmistakable desperation. His lot is stoking discord to cash in on opportunistic fractures in the polity for self aggrandizement.

Consider his records. Since the 2019 general election, Anyaso has within a single election cycle after another pitched his tent with three distinct political parties.

In 2019, he emerged as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the primaries for Bende Federal Constituency. He was later to be defeated roundly in the main election by the incumbent Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, PhD CFR now the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the All Progressives Congress (APC), losing even in his own polling unit and ward. Scarcely had the dust settled when he decamped to the Young Progressives Party (YPP).

In 2023, he reappeared as the running mate to Engr. Enyinnaya Nwafor in the Abia governorship contest under the YPP banner. Defeated yet again, Anyaso wasted no time in abandoning both his principal and his party, finding refuge in the Labour Party (LP) on whose platform he now seeks the Bende federal seat for 2027.

One would have thought that a man armed with a ticket of the ruling party in the State, at least for another attempt at anything elective, would seize the moment to articulate a vision, to tell Ndi Bende with clarity and conviction what he intends to do if entrusted with their mandate. But he has not. What has been offered instead is a spectacle that approximates content creation rather than a real campaign, a performance bereft of policy depth and unprepared for the rigours of office he seeks.

In the absence of ideas, Anyaso has chosen to retail a fiction. He has chosen to regale Ndi Bende with a phantom zoning and rotational arrangement story between the two political blocs of Bende Federal Constituency, Bende South otherwise known as Ikwuishi and Bende North otherwise known as Umunna.

According to him, the Deputy Speaker hailing from Bende South (Ikwuishi) entered into a solemn pact with stakeholders in 2019 to serve only two terms of eight years and thereafter cede the seat to Bende North (Umunna).

As heavily unfounded as this is, this claim was later subjected to scrutiny in August when Deputy Speaker engaged with the traditional rulers across the divide in Bende. Their verdict was unambiguous. No such meeting was ever convened. No such agreement was ever reached and no such resolution on rotation exists. The rebuttal was emphatic and what followed was a telling silence, a hiatus from the elaborate falsehood that had been deployed to distract the electorate from substantive issues.

Incidentally, history is kind to both the Deputy Speaker and his Ikwuishi of Bende South bloc who are yet to come at par with Bende North where Anyaso hails from.

A quick prognosis or enquiry into the immediate past will not only frown at Anyaso and his cohorts but also describe them as rabble rousers and agent provocateurs.

At the dawn of fourth republic in 1999, Hon. Nnamdi Njoku from Bende South (Ikwuishi) represented the federal constituency for only 4 years. In 2003, Hon. Mba Aja from Bende North (Umunna) also did 4 years. But from 2007 to 2019, Hon Nnenna Ukeje from Bende North spent 12 years, elongating the slot of Umunna to 4 terms of 16 years.

Bende South was to pick up again in 2019 when Rt. Hon. Kalu debuted at the thresholds of the National Assembly. He is yet to spend 8 years. An addition of both his term so far and that of Hon.. Njoku will only give you 12 years with a deficit of 4 years to be commensurate with that of Bende North. So, the maths here is that Bende South still has 4 more years to go even before any negotiations about terms and tenures can be made between the two political blocs to know who starts it first.

Only last week, the narrative resurfaced albeit in a more brazen form. This time Anyaso produced documents printed on what purports to be the 2019 official campaign letterhead of the Deputy Speaker, alleging a duly signed rotational pact between Umunna and Ikwuishi.

The documents on their face betray their own artifice. The two letters bear contradictory dates. The purported proposal letter is dated February 4, 2019 after the parties had supposedly concluded negotiations and executed the agreement on January 10, 2019. In the ordinary course of events, a proposal cannot postdate its own consummation. How come the agreement was signed in January and the proposal seeking the negotiations and support was signed in January, one month afterwards? The dissonance is not merely procedural, it is suspect.

Even more troubling are the signatures appended thereto, particularly those ascribed to traditional rulers which appear inconsistent and warrant forensic examination.

Interestingly, the response was swift and categorical. Hon Emma Trump Eke, the Director General of the Benjamin Kalu Movement (BKM) whose name and signature appear on the document as a signatory to the alleged 2019 agreement has since issued a firm disclaimer, describing the letters as products of forgery, dissociating himself, the person of the Deputy Speaker and his office entirely from the phantom accord.

He said: “I have been made aware of a document circulating as a purported proposal on representation and rotation in Bende Federal Constituency. The document is said to have been signed by me, Rev. Emmanuel Trumps Eke, and my Principal, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, Ph.D., CFR.

“I wish to state categorically that neither I, nor my Principal, signed any such document. It is false and an outright fabrication. Furthermore, I draw attention to the following points: The font and style of writing the names of Traditional Rulers and dates inserted on the signatory page of the document makes it clear that it is an outright forgery.

“Letter one was purported to have been produced on February 4, 2019. The date of the second document is 19th January, 2019. If the traditional rulers have already settled a matter in January, why do we need to seek the same reliefs in February?

“The Traditional Ruler who is purported to have signed as Chairman of Bende South in 2019, Eze Patrick Ude, was not Chairman of Bende South Traditional Rulers Council in 2019.

“A document produced by Traditional Rulers of Bende will be placed on their official letter head with the appropriate official accouterments and not on a facsimile paper.

“The traditional rulers, whose names are listed as signatories and witnesses to the document, have, at various fora, denied that any such document exists or that they signed it.

“The first page is a bromide of a letter we wrote to Bende Stakeholders in 2019 soliciting their support. They have removed the original content of the letter and superimposed their forgery.

“I therefore state without equivilocation that the document in circulation is fake and an outright forgery.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I reiterate again that no such conversation or agreement about tenure and turn took place with anyone, to the best of my knowledge.

“It is regrettable that this purported document is being used to advance a narrative about “turn” and political agreements. Those making such claims should focus on presenting their plans and proposals directly to the people of Bende, rather than relying on a forged document.

“I urge the public to exercise caution and verify the authenticity of any document before sharing it. Those responsible for producing, or knowingly distributing a forged document, will be held accountable in accordance with the law.”

In similar vein, the three traditional rulers across the divide mentioned have all dissociated themselves from the purported agreement. HRH, Eze Dr. Patrick Ude listed as a chairman/representative from Bende South has publicly washed his hands of the concoction.

In a letter dated October 9, 2026, the royal father said: “I hereby state clearly and without ambiguity to Ndi Bende, Abia State and the general public that I was never invited to, never attended any meeting where such agreement was discussed or reached. I did not sign, thumbprint or witness any document in respect of rotation of Bende Federal Constituency seat. My name and office was included in that letter without my knowledge or consent. I dissociate myself completely from the said publication and its content. The general public should disregard the publication as it concerns me. I will remain a father to all political actors and I am for peace, equity and progress of Bende federal constituency”.

To accentuate the fraud, Eze Ude had not ascended as the Chairman, Bende Council of Traditional Rulers in 2019.

Similarly, HRH, Eze Jerry Akpala Igwe in
HRH, Eze Jerry Akpala Igwe in a letter dated October 10, 2026 said: “I wish to state categorically that the purported signature on that document does not resemble mine and was not signed by me. I hereby dissociate myself from the document circulating on social media as I was not part of such a document at any point in time and it should be discountenanced by the general public.”

On his part, HRM, Eze John Akaliro in a letter dated October 9, 2026 said “The document in circulation bearing my name my fake and should be discountenanced as I did not sign or witness such a document”

At this juncture, it will be wise to state plainly that forgery is not political strategy but a felony. Under the Nigerian laws, forgery attracts up to 14 years imprisonment. Anyone who makes, signs or knowingly circulates a forged document as genuine, including letters bearing forged signatures of public officials and traditional rulers, is liable to be arrested, prosecuted and jailed.

This transcends mere desperation were it to be established. It amounts to a deliberate and well hatched plot to sow discord among the people of Bende and to bring the hallowed traditional institution into disrepute for ephemeral political gains. Never in the political history of a people has truth ever been so brazenly perverted to sway an electorate. In this case, those who made haste to write and publish forged documents should have by now understood what awaits them.

But the people of Bende are not without discernment and that is why I don’t bat an eyelid. The people live daily amidst tangible evidence of representation that works. The roads, bridges, street lights, power transformers, schools, health facilities and human capital interventions facilitated by the Deputy Speaker speak volumes to this effective representation. Beyond constituency projects, the Deputy Speaker, Kalu has equally distinguished himself in parliamentary duties, sponsoring landmark legislations already assented to into law, notably the South East Development Commission, the University of Medical Sciences, Item and the Federal College of Education Bende.

It is therefore the mark of a retrogressive mind to prefer an untested and unstable candidature over a presiding officer who has demonstrably brought the dividends of democracy to his people.

In 2027, beyond the noise of the unfounded agreement of rotation which only exists in the imagination of the purveyors, Ndi Bende will be confronted with a stark choice, between continuity that has delivered and an experiment anchored on fabrication and opportunism. On the balance of character, capacity and record, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, PhD, CFR remains unmistakably the peoples choice. And he will won convincingly in the election just like in 2019 and 2023.

*Nwachukwu, a public commentator and analyst writes from Umuahia, Abia State capital