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Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has revealed that he and others are presently discussing with stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC), from other zones to zone the party’s presidential ticket to South East.
Speaking on Silverbird TV in an interview which monitored by The Eastern Updates on Friday, the former Abia State governor said a president of Igbo extraction will change the fortunes of Nigeria.
Kalu asserted that only the North East and South East have not produced a President and that he is having conversations with other zones in the country to see this fact and explain to them why the South East should be supported. He said at the end of the day, he would abide with whatever the party decides.
‘I have been consistent in saying that there are only two zones that have never been president in Nigeria and it is the North East and the South East and if we are to sit, I would say that you should zone it to my village because that is what I would like to see. But what is the feeling of the other generality of Nigerians? The party is supreme and I believe in whatever the party says. When we get to our caucuses, we can discuss there, but if you want my personal opinion, it should be zoned to my village so that I can become the president and give Nigerians what they would like to see.
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‘We are talking to other zones in the country to see that the South East has never produced a president and this conversation is going on very well. We need other stakeholders from across the country to agree that the presidency should be zoned to the South East and at the end of the day, it is left for the party and the Nigerian people to decide.’
On what the country will benefit from a president from South East, Kalu said: ‘A president of Igbo extraction means that Nigeria is ready for a miracle. I am not going to play politics, we will centre our policies on the growth of the economy. If we have a President from the South East, you can be assured that everyone will win. I am ready for the job but I can tell you that when I met with Bola Tinubu, Governor Dave Umahi and Pius Anyim, I told them that I was not running. But a couple of days after my discussion with them, I had conversations with elders from the North, West and Niger Delta from January 5 and on January 8, I came back to Igbere and met members of my community and they said it is a possibility. It is for that reason that I went back to those I told that I would not run but I would still have a meeting with them to tell them formally that I would run for election. I have always said that there is nothing like Igbo presidency, what we have is a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction because Igbo is not a nation and when you are not a nation, you can’t produce a president.
‘Tinubu is not a threat to my ambition and I am not a threat to his ambition. We are very close friends and politics cannot separate us. When I newly became the governor of Abia, my children were attending school in Lagos and they were living with Mrs Remi Tinubu. In 2003, when as governor, he was lagging behind, I came to Lagos and took him round to meet with Igbo and made sure he won re-election and that is what caused my problem with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He has his idea on how he does things and I have my idea on how I do things and if we meet at the Eagles Square, I would give a good account of myself,’ Kalu said.
He warned those who claim that the South East does not speak with one voice when it comes to politics to stop blackmailing the zone, insisting that in a democracy, everyone is allowed to have an ambition and express an opinion.
THE EASTERN UPDATES
