By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
Former Governor of Abia state, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has maintained that the presidency remained in the North in 2019 and that President Mohammedu Buhari is entitled to contest second term if he is interested.
Kalu stated this yesterday in Minna in a chat with journalists after a private visit to former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda.
Th e former governor insisted that, even if President Muhammadu Buhari would not contest the position in the 2019 general elections, it should still be retained in the North, advising other parts of the country vying for the top job to wait till 2023 to have a shot at the presidency, in order to forge national cohesion.
Kalu, who said age was still in his favour, disclosed that he would not mind contesting the presidency in 2023.
“I am a Nigerian and I am entitled to contest the presidency, but like I will always say, and I maintain my position, northerners should be allowed to complete their second term.
If Buhari is not contesting, even though he is entitled to a second term, the North should still present a candidate.
Th is is the turn of the North.
“Other zones should be ready for 2023, but for now, I still maintain my position and I am not afraid of anybody.
Th is is the turn of the North.
Anybody can take me for what I say.
Whoever that is castigating me over this position is wasting his time.
I live by the truth and I will be ready to speak the truth always.
Opinion is an entitlement, and that is my opinion given to me by God.
” On his comment on leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, he stated: “I did not say anything bad on IPOB, they have the right to carry their fl ags around and agitate but they don’t have the right to separate Nigeria.
” According him, “People misunderstood my intention.
I was just after peace because burning down our state (Abia) wouldn’t have been the best.
And again the lives of the over 15 million Igbos that are living in the North are more important than one person.
Th at is the issue.
So, we need to take control of the situation.
” He stated that the agitations were often fueled by injustice and lack of fairness, especially in providing basic amenities, which is not peculiar to the South-east, adding that the “absence of all these amenities is responsible for whatever agitation you are seeing.
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