Abuja, Nigeria — The iNews Times, reports that reactions have continued to trail the Benjamin Kalu petition as a civil society organisation dismissed allegations against the Deputy Speaker.
A civil society organisation, the Igbo Mandate Movement Group, has dismissed the Benjamin Kalu petition filed against Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, as “frivolous, mischievous and politically motivated.”
The group described the latest episode as a years-long campaign to sabotage the career of one of Nigeria’s most prominent Igbo lawmakers.
The petition, authored by John Aikpokpo-Martins, former First Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association, was addressed to the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee and the National Youth Service Corps requesting a review of records relating to Kalu’s professional qualifications and national service history.
But the National Coordinator, Igboeli Arinze Napoleon, in a statement said the Benjamin Kalu petition followed a pattern of credential challenges that have trailed Kalu at every stage of his rise.
According to him, when he was nominated as a commissioner in Abia State, detractors alleged he had never graduated from the University of Calabar, a claim disproved when Kalu subsequently obtained an LL.M and a Ph.D from the same institution and delivered its 50th anniversary convocation lecture.
“When he sought election to represent Bende Federal Constituency, it was first alleged he had dodged NYSC service entirely; when that was debunked, the allegation shifted to claims that his NYSC certificate was a forgery, a claim that required a formal letter from the then NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Y.D. Ahmed, to finally extinguish.
“The same forces of retrogression have returned with yet another iteration of the same discredited narrative,” the statement read.
On the substance of the current Benjamin Kalu petition, the group laid out the facts of Kalu’s 2010 service year.
“He graduated from the University of Calabar in 1998, but the Nigerian Law School, which then operated only two campuses in Lagos and Abuja, could not absorb the volume of qualified graduates in a timely manner.
“The resulting backlog left many law graduates waiting years for admission. Kalu travelled abroad during the wait to acquire further qualifications.
“Upon returning to Nigeria and being mobilised for NYSC in 2010, he was posted to Enugu North Local Government Area and served in the office of the Chairman.
“He participated fully in camp activities, emerged as a Platoon Leader and was decorated with the Citizenship and Leadership Award.
“At the same time, by a remarkable coincidence, his long-awaited Law School admission arrived, placing him at the Enugu Campus in Agbani, just thirty minutes from his NYSC post.
“Faced with the choice of deferring admission and waiting another three to four years or abandoning his NYSC service in breach of the NYSC Act, he chose to honour both obligations simultaneously.
“His primary assignment schedule was organised to allow him discharge his LGA duties before attending Law School classes.
“He met all weekly and monthly NYSC clearance requirements, exceeded the mandatory 70 percent Law School attendance threshold and was among only three students selected to serve on the research team of the then Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Professor Ernest Ojukwu.”
On the legal question, the group argued that any NYSC declarations critics seek to invoke are prospective in nature, stating what “shall not” be done going forward and cannot be applied retroactively to Kalu’s 2010 service.
“Laws are not retroactive in nature. Such declarations do not carry the force of law and would not survive scrutiny under an affidavit on oath.
“A call to the Bar is a professional certification, and corps members across Nigeria routinely acquire professional certifications in management, cybersecurity, project management and accountancy during their service year with full NYSC knowledge,” the statement added.
Beyond defending the Deputy Speaker, the group called for urgent policy reform, stressing that thousands of Nigerian law graduates still face years-long waits between graduation and Law School admission.
The group argued that the Benjamin Kalu petition highlights a systemic failure requiring legislative response to ensure timely Law School access and prevent punishment of corps members navigating structural challenges in good faith.
While calling on the LPDC and NYSC to treat the petition with the contempt it deserves, the group insisted that Kalu deserves commendation, not condemnation.
