By Caleb Tamunosaki
Chief Whip of the Senate, and former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has debunked insinuations in some quarters that he snubbed President Muhammadu Buhari by not going to him to declare his intention to contest for the Presidency in 2023.
Kalu said during an interview on ‘The Morning Show’ programme of the Arise Television on Thursday, said that the fact that he did not go to the villa to meet the President as was done by other aspirants of the APC should not be misinterpreted to mean he snubbed the President.
He said that he would approach the President with his ambition if the ruling All Progressives Congress zones the party’s ticket to the South East geopolitical zones.
Kalu said that the APC belonged to all Nigerians and not to the party’s National leader, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who visited President Buhari to inform him of his intention to contest the Presidency in 2023.
He said, “I cannot snub the President, he is the leader of the party. You cannot snub a man that sits at the right side of the chair.
“What I’m just trying to do is to be careful in informing him. If I go to tell him I want to run for president and the party does not zone it to South East, it will not be nice to myself.
“I don’t own the party, neither does Bola Tinubu or any other person in the party. The party is owned by the Nigerian people. In a democratic set up, majority always have their way.
“Unless the party zones this thing (ticket) directly to us (South East), if we go by majority in our next convention, if it’s not properly settled and agreed upon, none of us will get it.
“This is why I said there is no need going to talk (with the president) that I want to contest, at least not until the APC National Convention Committee says this is going to South, probably South East.”
Kalu who said that only the South East and the North East have not produced the President said that if elected he would frontally tackle the threat of insecurity in the country.
“My first priority will be to give Nigerian people freedom from terrorism, banditry, anything you call it from Sahara Desert to the Atlantic Ocean. I will like to give them freedom to go anywhere they want to go because that is the freedom everybody needs. And I’m capable of doing that. My first priority will be security of lives and property.
“Secondly, I will restore Nigerian people’s confidence. I will give them confidence. The youths, elderly, men and women need the confidence to go to the United States, United Kingdom and anywhere in the world and proudly say they are Nigerians. Confidence is everything. We have lost confidence from where we are coming.
“Number three is to go back to re-commercialize electricity, to make sure that we restore electricity to our people. Once we have electricity, everything will follow. I don’t want to talk about roads. I will create economic miracle for Nigerians.” He added
