*Urges Nigerians to unite

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu has called on Nigeria lawyers and legal practitioners to adhere to the rule of law, adding that doing otherwise will open the society up for chaos.

Kalu made the demand on Tuesday when the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, paid him a visit in Abuja.

The deputy Speaker encouraged the NBA to ensure that they contribute to nation building through various channels of leadership.

Expressing delighted on his emergence as NBA President, Kalu said he had no doubts Maikyau will performance well, having known him as one with inbuilt capacity to deliver on

In a statement signed by Udora Orizu, Special Assistant, Press Affairs to the Deputy Speaker, Kalu said, “You have the intellectual prowess and presence to excel in the position and you have been doing us proud since your emergence. We don’t have any regrets. Like you likely pointed out, there’s a role for us all in nation building. As lawyers, we know that law governs anything we do and in the absence of law, you are opening the society up for chaos. We will become what we want to be when everyone carries his brick to build it. There’s a brick for everyone to carry, the government and the citizens alike”.

The Deputy Speaker assured the NBA of his attendance at the upcoming 63rd Annual General Conference of the NBA, scheduled to hold in Abuja from 25th of August to 1st of September 2023.

Earlier, President of the NBA, Mr Yakubu Maikyau, told Kalu that he came to congratulate him on his emergence as Deputy Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.

While expressing his confidence on Kalu’s ability to carryout the demands of the office, he urged him to attend the 63rd Annual General Conference of the NBA, scheduled to hold in Abuja from 25th of August to 1st of September 2023.

“It’s such an honor to be here, it’s such a great privilege to visit you, interact with you, at this level of our growth. Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu is my classmate, we sat together in same class when we did our residency at Oxford. That was the time when our bonding started. Of course we’ve been colleagues but we never had the opportunity, ever since then we have kept the relationship.

“I have watched the trajectory of his growth in this profession. A growth that’s characterized by integrity, professionalism and the dexterity that you’ve brought to bear in the representation of your people. The Nigeria Bar Association cannot be luckier than it is now to have you at this time. It’s such an honor and privilege. When we met several years back I didn’t know that this is where we will find ourselves. I know you also owe all of this to God almighty”, Maikyau said.

In another related development the Deputy Speaker also stressed the need for Nigerians to stand together as one in the quest of moving forward, irrespective of their level of convergence.

He gave the charge when he received Leaders and Elders of the All Progressives Congress APC from Abia State on a courtesy call at the National Assembly, Abuja.

The Deputy Speaker said togetherness breads strength which serves as a powerful springboard to launch local, state as well as national development drive.

Coming down to the position of Abia Stare in the scheme of things in the country, Rep Okeize agreed with others with the notion that Abians must come together, forgive and forget past differences, and resolve to work together as one, if her dwindling fortune and relevance in the present day Nigeria must change.

Kalu noted that as his immediate Constituency and state, he wished Abia, like other states of the Federation will leverage on its vast pool of entrepreneurs, technocrats, intelligentsia and politicians of repute to lift the state to the level it rightly deserved.

The leader of the visiting delegation Senator Chris Aduighije said the essence of the visit was to willingly confer on the Deputy Speaker the position of the Political Leadership of not only Abia State, but the entire South-East geo-political zone.

He charged the host that now that he is occupying a position of trust of a powerful institution such as the Legislature, Rep Okeize Kalu should take up the challenge and build political bridges across Abia and the entire South East.

Senator Aduighije said in conferring the South-East political Leadership position on the Deputy Speaker, he should use his position to galvanize south-easterners in making the region an APC stronghold.

Glowing attributes were paid to the Deputy Speaker who was described as young, cool and collected, as well as a man of action, needed to take over from Political leaders of the past, who he claimed were intolerant of each other and quick to bicker on issues affecting development of the South-East zone.

Accepting the unsolicited offer of Political Leader of the Region, the Deputy Speaker thanked the leaders and Elders of the

APC for their confidence and trust in his capability, but with the caveat that the zone’s total support for him will remain intact.

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