Akinwande Soji-Ojo
With few days to the 2023 general elections, Senate Chief Whip, Sen Orji Kalu, has said Nigerians are not ready for a president of Igbo extraction.
Speaking on Channels Television programme, ‘The Verdict’ on Wednesday, the former governor of Abia State said Saturday’s presidential election would not be the best outing for the Igbo people despite having one of their son, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, as one of the popular candidates.
Kalu, who represents Abia North Senatorial District under the All Progressives Congress(APC) platform emphasised the need for the region to amass bulk votes from five other regions out of the remaining six to be victorious.
Dismissing the chances of Obi emerging victorious at the polls, Kalu said: “I’m well-experienced; I ran for President in 2007 and I’m not sure Nigerians are yet ready for a President of Igbo extraction.”
“I’m not sure because I have tried to nose around that. We have five other regions to come up with and I am not sure.
“The people of the South East are the best professionals but not the best politicians.
“We do politics with emotions and I want Igbos to stop doing politics with emotions; I want Igbos to do practical politics,” he added.
Speaking on the candidate adopted by the People Democratic Party (PDP) aggrieved governors, popularly known as G5, Kalu said they are silently working for the victory of the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
However, the G5 governors comprising Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) have not openly declared their support for any presidential candidate despite welcoming the candidates who come into their state for campaigns.
Ortom had last week expressed his preference for Obi.
“The G5 came together and they are working together and I don’t even believe the governor of Benue State, possibly, he just wants to use that (endorsement) to win an election because the G5, from inside sources, have made up their minds that they are not going to work for any other person than Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC,” the lawmaker maintained.
He further expressed confidence that Tinubu will win with a landslide victory in Abia State and the South East zone.
