ABUJA / UMUAHIA — The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, is under intense public backlash following revelations that he inserted an N800 million-to-N1 billion allocation into the federal budget intended for churches across his Bende Federal Constituency in Abia State.

The controversy comes at a critical time when the National Assembly’s leadership is expected to act as the primary constitutional gatekeeper checking executive excesses, budget padding, and procurement inflation.

Instead, civic accountability organizations, legal scholars, and constituents argue that the Deputy Speaker’s direct insertion of faith-based funding into line items assigned to unrelated federal agencies represents classic legislative budget padding and a direct compromise of his oversight mandate.

Bizarre Agency Domiciliation: Industrial Arbitration Panel Tasked With Church Gear

A major red flag raised by civic watchdog Tracka (the public project monitoring arm of BudgIT) centers on how the allocation was smuggled into the budget.

Under code ERGP20273981, the budget provides N1 billion—listed through the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment—for the provision and distribution of musical instruments, public address systems, and evangelical equipment to churches in Bende Local Government Area.

Critics point out that the Industrial Arbitration Panel has zero statutory responsibility for faith-based interventions, youth ministry, or community development. Inserting regional religious projects into labor arbitration line items violates basic public procurement principles and federal agency mandates.

Kalu Defends Allocation as “Youth Re-Orientation,” Admits “Technical Error”

Facing widespread public condemnation, Deputy Speaker Kalu issued a formal statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, pushing back against claims that the money was meant solely for instruments.

• The Figure Shift: Kalu claimed that after Value Added Tax (VAT) and statutory tax deductions, the actual expenditure stands at N780 million rather than N1 billion.
• The Justification: He argued the funds are designed as a “Youth Re-orientation and Social Support Programme” delivered evangelistically through 130 faith-based organizations across Bende’s 13 electoral wards. Each targeted church would receive between N5 million and N6 million to acquire public address equipment and campaign against drug abuse and violent crime.
• The “Corrigendum” Defense: Kalu admitted that a “technical error” occurred in the procurement description and stated that a correction note (corrigendum) was submitted to the Budget Office before full implementation.

“Nation-building must go beyond roads and physical infrastructure,” Kalu maintained. “It must also include investments in value reorientation and character development using trusted community structures like churches.”

…Depiction of Schools in Abia

Misaligned Priorities: Broken Schools and Underfunded Clinics Ignored

The Deputy Speaker’s defense has done little to quell anger among Bende constituents and public finance analysts, who point out that basic public infrastructure across Abia State is in dire need of state and federal intervention.

Across several rural communities in Bende Federal Constituency, primary health centers suffer from severe shortages of essential drugs, equipment, and medical personnel. Public primary and secondary schools continue to operate with leaking roofs, missing desks, and understocked libraries.

Public commentators argue that using federal tax money to fund church sound systems and evangelical campaigns—while public schools collapse and rural health centers lack basic diagnostic tools—is a fundamental misallocation of public resources.

Who Will Probe the Deputy Speaker?

As one of the principal officers supervising the passage of the national budget, Kalu’s involvement highlights the structural breakdown of legislative check-and-balance mechanisms.

Key institutional pathways being demanded by civil society groups for a full probe include:

1. ICPC Constituency Project Tracking Group (CEPTG): The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) possesses statutory powers to audit constituency insertions. Anti-graft advocates are urging the ICPC to freeze any releases under code ERGP20273981 on the grounds of statutory mandate violation and procurement irregularity.
2. Ethics and Privileges Committee / Public Accounts Committee: Calls are mounting within the House of Representatives for an internal ethics audit, though observers remain skeptical that lawmakers will formally investigate their own presiding officer.
3. Public Interest Litigation by Civil Society: Organizations such as Tracka, BudgIT, and SERAP are preparing legal actions under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to challenge the constitutionality of using federal revenue to fund religious institutions through unrelated government agencies.