Crowd breaks into Obi chants as Ben Kalu campaigns for Tinubu in Abia

A capacity crowd at the Item Okpi cultural festival in Abia State repeatedly chanted “Obi! Obi! Kererenke, Obi” as Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, canvassed support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.

The incident played out on Saturday, during the festival held in Aba, where Kalu implored residents to get behind the re-election bid of the All Progressives Congress (APC) standard-bearer.

In a now viral video, the deputy speaker described Tinubu as the best candidate for Nigeria. The audience demurred, however, chanting the name of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), to the rafters and ululating while at it.

The chants went a couple of decibels higher as Kalu countered with the “On Your Mandate We Shall Stand” tune — a signature piece of President Tinubu.

Kalu told the crowd that Tinubu always remembers the south-east, particularly the Bende community, and urged locals to repay with votes.

“You don’t want this university they want to build for you? President Tinubu has remembered us. He has remembered the south-east. He has remembered Bende. The only way to say thank you is to vote him for a second time,” he said.

However, the crowd continued belting Obi’s name in the sweltering Abia temperatures, drowning Kalu’s appeal through the public address system.

Kalu then appeared to question whether those responding to him were from the community, saying: “These people are not Item people.”

The deputy speaker had attended the festival after participating in APC presidential campaign activities in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.

The legislator also pledged further development projects for the Item community, including classrooms, roads and health centres.