People calling for interim government are wasting their time – Orji Kalu

Senator Orji Ujor Kalu, representing Abia North senatorial district on Tuesday declared his intention to vie for the Senate President position in the 10th Senate.

He tells members of the Senate Press Corps his chances of gaining the confidence of his colleagues to clinch the top position as a ranking senator from the South East and a Christian while promising to be a unifier of members of the Hallowed Red Chamber if elected Senate President. TUNDE OPALANA and HARUNA SALAMI bring excerpts.

Your Excellency, the last time you talked on Muslim- presidential ticket of your party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), you supported it. You’re coming to the 10th Senate, will you support a Muslim Senate President against the backdrop of having a Muslim president-elect and Muslim Vice President elect?

To me, it was in this same place, I spoke in support of Muslim-Muslim ticket, but will I be comfortable with Muslim Senate President? The answer is No! I speak the truth. Like I told you people that I will stand for Muslim -Muslim ticket because that was the only thing that would make APC win.

I will not be comfortable with a Muslim Senate President because this is a secular state. In a secular state, we need to accommodate the interest of nations upon nations and spread for us to maintain the secularity of our country. So, to me, like I told you the truth here before that I believe in Muslim-Muslim ticket, I will not believe in another Senate President being a Muslim. It will not augur well for the country.

Although your party has not zoned offices, what position are you coming out for?

The question is whether I will run. Yes, I’m ready to run for Senate President if the party zones it to my zone because the party is supreme. If they want to zone it, they should zone it to my village so that nobody will contest against me. I don’t even want them to zone it to the South; the party should zone it to Igbere in my ward because I’m the only senator from there.

You can manufacture another senator from another local government or from another place in Abia. I would like the party to zone it to me with my name. If they can do that it will be very good because President Tinubu needs people of high character to turn around this economy, to make sure we work for the masses and make laws that will enable him to turn around the economy.

I’m an economic person. You know I’m an entrepreneur found himself in the Senate. You can see the bills I sponsored, like the Railway Bill, the state government and the private sector can now build railways like the electricity we unbundled. These are the kind of things the president-elect and his vice will like to see and we are capable of handling this arm of the government for them. I’m ready in everything.

What are your chances, knowing fully well that it will not be zoned to your village, probably the South East where name like Governor David Umahi is also all over the airwaves even though he is a first timer, but looking at his commitment to the party, what are your chances?

You know Senate has rules. We are not going to talk about that because the rule of the Senate supercedes anything. Let me be honest with you, if we practice true democracy, I shouldn’t be in contest with anyone in this position.

Apart from the Senate President himself, the Deputy Senate President and the leader of the Senate, I’m the highest ranking member of the Senate. You saw what happened in the House of Representatives of the USA .

We copied our democracy from them. No other senator will even come out, a proper democratic position, you take by ranking. I’m the highest ranking, not by the years I have stayed, but by position I occupy today.

You saw what happened in the House of Representatives, the House Leader and the Minority Leader were running pari pasu and that is where democracy is safe. You don’t fly from nowhere to come on the floor of the Senate. I’m sure even the senators will not agree because it is an established norm by the Senate.

It might not be written, but it is a norm of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is virtually impossible that this thing will be zoned to a new member or somebody that will not be able.

This is a very established place. It needs somebody with experience, skills, somebody who will be able to relate.

Just call me ‘Team Nigeria’. I’m not an Igbo man. I’m a Nigerian , a true Nigerian. When you look at my face, you see the face of a New Nigeria, you see a man who supports Nigeria who forgets where I come from.

I’m not saying this because of anything otherwise I couldn’t have supported Muslim-Muslim ticket. I was the first to break the jinx and tell them my opinion.

What I’m saying is my private opinion. If I’m left in my private opinion, the party should zone the Senate presidency to my village, to me.

What is your general impression of the last general elections in the country vis a vis the Electoral Act 2022?

Well, to me there is no perfect election. We have some lapses, but we must move on. People that are calling for Interim Government are just wasting their time because we have practiced democracy. Democracy in India is the democracy in America. No democracy is perfect.

INEC has done the job they can, it is left for us to tighten the noose, where there is mistake we go for amendment. I want journalists to point out where there are lapses in the elections so that we can do it. We cannot say because there are problems here and there we should put our democracy in jeopardy.

No, it’s not true. President Tinubu, I want to assure you will stand firm in giving good governance and will also stand firm with the 10th Assembly and will have the courage to amend the constitution. What I will like to see with my colleagues is for us to go for electronic voting so that we do away with paper work.

We will like to insert in the Electoral law that people can vote by just punching any political party of their choice. It might be manual.

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For me no election is perfect. Even my friend and late brother, President Umaru Musa Yar’dua confessed that the election that brought him was not perfect. I’m sure President Tinubu is talking about fairness, fairness, fairness.

I’m sure President Tinubu in conjunction with us will be able to address this matter squarely. This country is our country. We have no other country to run to. We must do everything within human rights that will address the issue of economy, electoral processes, the Police, the Army by funding them well.

We know what to do to move these things forward and remove a lot of skirmishes around electoral processes. If I’m elected Senate President, I will be Team Nigeria. I’m going to work for every corner of this country.

I started in Maiduguri where I went to school, started my business in Lagos, spread it across all state capitals. My first name will be Team Nigeria, last name Team Nigeria and middle name Team Nigeria.

Remember, I’m the only governor who has never changed my phone number since I became governor 24 years ago. I will be willing to maintain that number if elected Senate President and answer my calls.