The Labour Party candidate for Bende Federal Constituency in the 2027 general election, China Anyaso, has assured residents that there will be no electoral malpractice in Abia State, declaring that every legitimate vote will count under the administration of Governor Alex Otti.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting on Sunday, Anyaso said the state government was committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections, while providing adequate security to safeguard voters and the electoral process.
Speaking on behalf of the governor, he warned against any attempt to manipulate election results.
“I’m speaking on behalf of Governor Alex Otti that there will be no rigging of elections anywhere in Abia State come the 2027 general election. Anybody, like the governor said, that is planning to write the election should go and write his will first. There will be no writing of election results in Abia State,” he said.
Anyaso stressed that while political parties and candidates would campaign vigorously for votes, the government would ensure that the will of the people prevailed at the polls.
“There will be adequate security to protect our votes. Do not be scared of anybody calling himself whatever number. Two is bigger than one,” he added.
The Labour Party standard-bearer also pledged not to disappoint the people of Bende if elected, pointing to his record in business, philanthropy and community development.
According to him, he has spent more than two decades building successful businesses in the oil and gas, real estate and hospitality sectors without any record of failed transactions.
He also highlighted his contributions to education, revealing that he established a nursery school for the Ndebende community at the age of 26 before expanding it into a primary school.
“Since 2008 till today, we have been training over 500 children for free. They don’t pay a dime. It is there and verifiable,” he said.
On the issue of zoning, Anyaso recalled an agreement reached in 2019 at the palace of the late Eze Patrick Ude, where political stakeholders resolved that the Bende Federal Constituency seat should rotate between the Bende North and Bende South political blocs after the incumbent completed two terms.
He argued that fairness and equity required the seat to return to Bende North, just as he supports President Bola Ahmed Tinubu completing two terms before power rotates to another region.
“In America, a handshake is an agreement. We agreed in 2019 that after eight years, it will come back to us. Our people are not people you can easily deceive,” he stated.
Anyaso also dismissed allegations linking him to recent budget allocation controversies, expressing confidence that his political ambition would succeed.
“That which God has destined and whose time has come, nobody can stop it,” he said.
He urged residents to remain united, continue supporting Governor Alex Otti’s development agenda and work towards the victory of Labour Party candidates in the 2027 general elections.
Corroborating Anyaso’s position, the traditional ruler of Igbere and Third Deputy Chairman of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Eze Uwakwe Ukaegbu, confirmed that traditional rulers across Bende had endorsed the rotational arrangement.
According to the monarch, traditional rulers agreed that the Bende Federal Constituency seat should return to Bende North (Umunna Bloc) after the completion of the eight-year tenure of the current occupant and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu.
“I was part of the signing of the document. I signed the agreement. Eze Akaliro, Patrick Ude, we were the four who signed the agreement as leaders of traditional rulers, which had 65 monarchs from Bende,” he said.