Community alleges deputy speaker bullying resident over FG project

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu

A group, Niger Data Mobilisation Team, and Nkpa indigenes have called on the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Ben Kalu, and then Director-General of his campaign, Trump Eke, to withdraw the lawsuit against their son, Darlington Agoha, and to embrace transparency, instead of dragging to court anyone that questions the lawmaker over faulty projects in his constituency.

Led by Dixon Uwakwe, the community on the high court premises in Umuahia on Monday gave the Kalu and Eke 72 hours to withdraw his lawsuit against Agoha, who he described as a dedicated public interest advocate, adding that Agoha “has faced relentless judicial intimidation for the past two years”.

“Mr. Darlington Agoha’s only crime was daring to demand basic accountability and transparency from the leadership of our constituency. Specifically, he has championed our community’s struggle for the proper execution of the N1.3 billion Ecological Fund project allocated for the Nkpa Road.

“Instead of receiving the quality infrastructure funded by the Federal Government, Ndi Nkpa has been left with substandard work and collapsing structures. When Mr. Agoha raised his voice to demand accountability, the Campaign Director General, acting on behalf of the Deputy Speaker, was deployed to drag him to court.

“This two-year-old lawsuit is a clear proxy litigation using a political campaign structure to bully, intimidate, and shield leadership from accounting for the N1.3 billion Ecological Fund project. Bende is a constituency plagued by substandard projects”

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The counsel for the defendant, Vincent Nwabueze, described a defamation suit filed by Eke as an attempt to intimidate concerned citizens over an allegedly substandard federal road project in Nkpa community.

Nwabueze said the dispute arose after Onyebuchi complained about the condition of the Federal Government road project, which he alleged was poorly executed and left incomplete despite claims that the contractor had been fully paid.

The defendant’s concerns, he said, “were motivated by the hardship the road’s condition had imposed on residents and the wider community”.

Reacting, the campaign DG Eke said, “The matters that we feel are defamatory are before the court. It is left to the court to decide whether or not he has defamed me and the person of the Deputy Speaker. It is not for me. He has a right to protest. It is part of our democratic culture. I also have a right to protect my integrity if I feel my name has been defamed as a public servant”.

On the 72-hour ultimatum, Eke said, “They have a right to issue an ultimatum. It is part of our democratic culture. You will always have your say. The court will have its way”.