Kalu officially drops presidential ambition; accuses SW, SS presidential aspirants of hypocrisy

Chinwe Ugele, Umuahia

It has now become clear that senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC) will be canvassing for support and votes to return to the red chamber (Senate) come 2023 against speculations of his presidential bid.

Kalu in a tweet on Tuesday, said he would not be running for president anymore for the sole reason that neither his party, All progressives Congress nor the major opposition party, the People’s Democratic party was willing to zone the presidency to the South East in the next general elections.

He said he had the firm belief that no one from the East is capable of winning the presidency without the support of other regions.

He also argued that the North has an edge over all other zones in the country as it possesses the capacity to win every presidential election.

He frowned at the number of aspirants from the South West and South – South who have declared interest to run for the seat. According to him, there is no justification to such aspirations when they all should really round the South Easterners.

The former governor also posited that the actions of those southern aspirants can only translate that someone from Daura, the hometown of president Buhari can actually succeed him.

He equally decried the huge sums of money been spent by the aspirants in pursuit of their “inordinate” ambition .

Part of his message reads thus:

“How can you talk about these morals when you are not even fair to your own brothers? If there is anything like “fairness”, “equity” and “justice”, it should be the entire South pushing for a president of South East extraction. Anything less than that is “hypocritical”,unjustifiable”and “inordinate”.  Some ‘persons’ are even claiming God’s anointed choice in 2023 . Unfortunately, it is not all prayers that God answers; at least not inordinate ones.What moral justification does a Southerner who refused to be fair to his brothers have against a Northerner running for president? It will be very insensitive , unreasonable and disrespectful for any Southern man to criticize a presidential aspirant from the North on the ground that the North has done eight years and power should return to the South. The South West and the South South have successfully completed their tenures as ‘President and Vice President’.They should have the courage to support their brothers from the South East. If the next president after President Muhammadu Buhari does not come from the South East , there would be nothing unfair and unjust if he/she comes from Daura. This country belongs to all of us and the unity of the country should be paramount . If not for selfishness and greed, how can you say that where a president comes from does not matter simply because you don’t want to support a president of Nigeria from the South East, but turn around to clamor for a power shift to the South? How do we explain this to the younger generation?  Let the wise and courageous stay firm on their convictions and not swing on the two sides of the Atlantic . If you are convinced that where a president comes from does not matter, let Nigerians not hear you clamour for power shift. Be brave to encourage everyone to run , including President Buhari’s kinsmen. But if you have conscience and believe in equality, then you should support the South East region that is yet to produce a president. That is what I consider as fairness .The two regions that are yet to produce a President are South East and North East. If this means anything to Nigerians, the APC and PDP should be fair enough to prioritize these regions. If power should come to the South and not the South East or North and not the North East, the essence for which the six geopolitical zones were created is long dead .”

Senator Kalu commended the likes of Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Edwin Clark , Deji Adeyanju who have consistently clamoured for power shift to the South East.