Senator Orji Uzor Kalu
Kalu abandons Presidential ambition, picks senatorial form
*Canvasses support for Ahmed Lawan’s presidency
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Senate Chief Whip, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has finally withdrawn from the 2023 Presidential race and has already bought form to return to the Senate.
Kalu who made known his decision to dump his presidential ambition Monday evening, expressed his support for Senate President, Ahmed lawan, to become the President of Nigeria in 2023.
He maintained that if Lawan emerges, it would mean that fairness and equity was at work in the country, adding that that would mean that there was hope for South East to produce the president of the country in future.
Explaining while he had to withdraw from the presidential race, the Senate Chief Whip, in a statement he personally signed and released to newsmen Monday evening, reiterated his earlier stand that he was not going to join the presidential race unless the two major political parties zoned the presidential tickets to the South East.
“I have also told Nigerians that I would only run for President if the two major political parties (APC and PDP) zone their tickets to the South East,” he said.
“I thank those who said they have picked presidential form for me because they meant well for Nigerians.
However, since there is no zoning and the contest is open to all Nigerians, I officially withdraw from presidential contest in 2023. I have also picked forms to run for Abia North Senatorial zone and to complete the good work I started in Abia North,” the statement read in part.
The Senator representing Abia North Senatorial Zone commended the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, for joining the 2023 presidential race, saying that there would only be justice, fairness and equity in Nigeria if either the South East or North East produced Buhari’s successor as both zones were yet to produce the president of the country.
“I congratulate my friend, former roommate and boss, Senator Ahmad Lawan, as he picks form to run for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under our great party, All Progressives Congress (APC) . I am most glad because he is from the North East, the only zone, alongside South East, that is yet to produce President of Nigeria.
“I have always maintained an unambiguous stand that for justice, equity and fairness in our country, the next president of Nigeria after President Muhammadu Buhari should come from the South East or the North East.
“…That is why I was disappointed with our Southern brothers who are talking about fairness and equity but has zero-tolerance for the same fairness and equity in the South.
“In the absence of a South Easterner being president of Nigeria in 2023, I have my full support for a North Easterner. This is because it would be the closest to the equity, fairness and justice everyone is talking about. It further means that the justice is on its way to the South East.
“I urge all my friends, allies and supporters in the APC to toe the line of justice by supporting Senator Ahmad Lawan, a North Easterner for the presidential ticket of the APC,” Kalu added.
