Senator Kalu: I have not dropped my intention to run
The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Kalu, has said that he will vie for the Presidency in 2023, if the All Progressives Congress (APC) zones the slot to the South-East geo-political zone.
Kalu’s second condition is that “our South-South and South-West brothers should drop their aspirations and support the southeast to produce the next president of the country.
Kalu who represents Abia North Senatorial District in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, made the disclosure on Tuesday in an interview with newsmen in his Camp Neya’s country home in Igbere, Bende Local Government Area of Abia, while speaking on his next political aspiration and stance on 2023.
He said: “My stand is clear. I have not dropped my intention to run for the presidency and will never.
“My advice to our brothers from the South-South and South-West is to support the South-East, which has yet to produce the president of the country.
“If there must be equity, it must be for the South-East. Unfortunately, our brothers in the south-south and southwest have come out massively to run for the presidency.
“If we are talking about equity, they should drop their aspiration and support the southeast.
“If they fail to do so, then the contest should be thrown open to all sections of the country, including the man from Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s village.”
Kalu advised his supporters and political affiliates “to keep hope alive.”
He said that he was sure the president had not endorsed any aspirant to succeed him, adding that
the southeast political class is intensifying its lobbying and negotiations with other parts of the country to see reasons to support the emergence of the next president from the zone.
He reaffirmed his belief in one united Nigeria, saying that the unity of the country is beneficial to all the component sections of the country.
According to him, the Igboman needs the country’s unity more than any other tribe because there is no part of this country you cannot find an Igboman living and doing business.
“We have investments everywhere in the country. Anywhere in the country you do not find an Igboman, you know that no human being is living there. So, every single part of the country is important and no one part can exist without the support of the other,” Kalu said.
He argued that there is no part of the country that had no mineral deposit or economic potentials to sustain itself and contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
