Unanimously, the 10th session of the House of Representatives elected Hon. Benjamin Kalu of Bende federal constituency as the Deputy Speaker.
Described as the “Oracle”, he was the spokesperson of the House and the Chairman of its committee on Media and Public Affairs in the last session.
A graduate of the University of Calabar, Kalu started his political career in 2002 by contesting for the House of Representatives primary but lost to Mbah Ajah.
In 2011 and 2015, he contested for the House of Representatives election, representing Progressive Peoples Alliance at that time, but lost in both elections.
On 23rd February 2019, Kalu, representing the ruling All Progressives Congress defeated Chima Anyaso of the Peoples Democratic Party to win the seat to represent Bende federal constituency in the House of Representatives. He received 9,138 votes, while Anyaso got 5,591 votes.
Anyaso rejected the result of the election and challenged Kalu’s victory in the National and State Assembly Election Petitions tribunal, citing irregularities in the election. On 29th August 2019, the tribunal dismissed the petition for lacking merit.
Anyaso appealed the case at the Imo State Appeal court, Owerri. On 28th October 2019, the Appeal Court upheld Kalu’s election.
