Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has described President Bola Tinubu as the messiah the Southeast has awaited since the end of the Biafra civil war, declaring that the region will support his re-election in 2027.

Kalu spoke on Saturday at the All Progressives Congress (APC) women’s empowerment rally in Enugu State, where he urged the Southeast to support the President, whom he said had demonstrated his love for the Igbo people.

He cited Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State, claiming that no Igbo-owned property was confiscated and no Igbo businessman was arrested during his administration.

Kalu also recalled that Tinubu appointed Ben Akabueze, an Igbo man, to his cabinet while serving as Lagos governor.

He said: “For now our mandate is to support the man that has been supporting us, this man has not hidden his love for Ndi-Igbo, when he was the governor of Lagos State, no Igbo property was taken, no Igbo who was a businessman was arrested.

“Then he was the only man who brought an Igbo man into his cabinet, Ben Akabueze, it has never happened before.

“I need to remind you that after the civil war we waited for 60 years for the promise that was made to the people of Igboland that was not kept. The three Rs they taught us in government, Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Reintegration; government after government ignored us. Administrations after administrations ignored the Igbos and we were waiting when will the messiah come to save the Igbos.

“Then came a man who loved the Igbos from his heart, the Southeast Development Commission has been going to the parliament from year to year, assembly to assembly and they refused to sign it, but when Tinubu came, the Southeast Development Commission became a commission.

“He gave us bridge, roads, and scholarship, why won’t we reelect him again, he will return again.”