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Tag: Kalu

  • How Obasanjo promised to make difficult for me as governor – Kalu

    How Obasanjo promised to make difficult for me as governor – Kalu

    …says Obasanjo’s rants can’t stop Buhari from emerging president in 2019

    A former Governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu has revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo promised to make life difficult as governor of Abia State for daring to critize him (Obasanjo) as then president.

    Kalu also expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari will win the 2019 presidential election if he re-contests despite the series of attacks from Obasanjo and other former Nigerian leaders.

    Kalu said this in an interview with journalists in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Friday, after his peace and advocacy visit to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

    The former governor said Obasanjo, who spent eight years in office, was the least person competent to attack Buhari’s integrity, adding that the former President did not allow anybody to criticise him while in office.

    He said, “Talking of integrity, Obasanjo is incompetent to criticise President Buhari. When I was the governor of Abia State, I wrote letters to President Obasanjo, criticising him and because of that, he swore to make life difficult for me. He is today writing letters every week, attacking Buhari.

    “I know Buhari very well. He is not corrupt. He does not own property anywhere. Some people should not just put the country in crisis. Whatever they may have in plan, Buhari will return in 2019.”

    The former governor said that Buhari had demonstrated that he loved the country more than Obasanjo and added that there was no way Nigerians would dump the President based on the series of letters written by Obasanjo to discredit him (Buhari).

    Kalu also said that the Igbo could realise the ambition of producing Buhari’s successor in 2023, stating, “We can’t do it alone. Late Chief MKO Abiola came to my mother’s house in Abia many years ago seeking political support.

    “While discussing with my mother, MKO said no one could clap with one hand. I will also adopt that adage. We Igbo can’t do it alone. The rest of the country should assist us to realise this ambition.”

    Earlier, the Ooni of Ife thanked Kalu for promoting unity and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians.

  • 2019: Buhari will re-contest if doctors declare him fit – Kalu

    Former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has said only sickness can stop President Muhammadu Buhari from seeking re-election in 2019.

    Kalu who spoke with journalists at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on Sunday night said the president was ready for the task ahead.

    He said, “Buhari is a honest man and will tell Nigerians at the right time whether he will seek re- election or not. We pray that his health gets better and that his doctors give him a clean bill of health.

    “You know Buhari is also a man of conscience , if he feels his health will not allow him to seek re- election he will not go ahead. But, if he feels he capable of running he will seek re- election. It his right, he is entitled to second term. Even, people that failed in their class can also repeat in either elementary or secondary school.

    Buhari is working. The Second Niger Bridge for instance is being constructed, so you see that though things are difficult, but it could be better.”

    Kalu said though people of the South East, had been cheated in many ways, but the Buhari administration would provide a window for new a beginning for the Igbo.

    He said, “The problem with Nigeria is inability to build national cohesion, by all stakeholders. We are still talking about tribe where people come from, what people think about their religion .

    “We need to impress it on all Nigerians that we need a country where all stakeholders feel a sense of belonging.

    Not minding where they come from or where they live, they should feel at home whether in Ogbomosho, Lagos, Ibadan, Sokoto , Enugu, they should feel at home. The earlier we have that sense of belonging the better for all of us.”

    Kalu said it would be the right thing to do to allow the South East take a shot at the presidency in 2023.

    “It is the right thing to do, Nigeria is built on a tripod, when you allow the South East to have the Presidency by 2023, that will be the end of the civil war,” he said.

    Speaking on the statement credited to Alhaji Junaid Mohammed that the elite in the North would not support Buhari’s bid for second term, Kalu said there was nothing to worry about elite conspiracy, as Buhari would get the support of the masses .

    He said, “If the elite refuse to support Buhari, the masses will support Buhari . The elite are few in number, the people that will support Buhari are the masses , who sincerely believe in Buhari.

    “They are people who not know any other thing other than Buhari. By my assumption, if President Buhari had 12.5 million supporters in the last general election, there is an additional 10 million supporters in the bank. That is what we call reserve, it is still there.”

    Kalu also called on the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to accelerate his efforts at reconciling aggrieved members of the ruling party.

  • Buhari is recovering fast, Kalu says after London visit

    Buhari is recovering fast, Kalu says after London visit

    A former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, said yesterday that President Mohammadu Buhari is fast recuperating.

    Kalu who said he visited Buhari in London, asked people spreading messages of hate and division to desist, saying it was inhumanity to man for some Nigerians to feast on messages of falsehood about the health of the President.

    Kalu who spoke at the Murtala Muhammad Airport, Lagos, said, “I went to Washington to visit some business partners and from there stopped in London to see Mr President. He is recovering very fast. I am excited over the state of health of President Buhari despite the hate messages people were spreading about him.”

    The former governor rated the administration of Buhari high on the fight against insurgency and corruption but low on the economy and rule of law.

    He said, “The government has done well but there is a lot of suffering in the land. The masses are suffering, going through economic problems.

    The administration has done well, but must obey the laws of the land by respecting judicial processes. Government must pursue the hardware and software of democracy that includes the rule of law and respect of the constitution.”