Orji Uzor Kalu, chief whip of the Nigerian Senate, says the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, is not a threat to his presidential ambition, POLITICS NIGERIA reports.
Speaking in an interview with Silverbird Television on Friday, and providing a response to media reports that he, in a recent interview, attacked Tinubu when he said he would contest against the APC chieftain for the party’s 2023 presidential ticket if zoned to the South, Kalu clarified that both of them were not threats to each other’s aspirations. He stressed that their relationship spanned for decades, adding that their friendship cannot be tainted by politics. Kalu however said he will give a good account of himself if eventually both of them contest the Presidential primaries.
His words; “No, no! Tinubu is not a threat to my ambition and I am not a threat to his ambition. We are very close friends and our friendship is deep rooted. When me and my wife went back to Abia as Governor , nobody was occupying my house in Victoria Island, Lagos . So my children were in school at that time and some were schooling at Corona schools while one was French International school in 1998 and they were living with Senator Oluremi Tinubu. So we are like a family and Politics cannot separate us.
“In 2003 when Tinubu waa seeking re-election and I saw that he was lagging behind, I assisted him and it’s part of what caused my problem with former President Obasanjo. So we’re a family and we cannot quarrel because of politics. He might have his idea on how to do it and I might have my own idea on how to do it. But all I know is that if we meet at Eagle square I will give a very good account of myself.”
The Abia North lawmaker had announced his intention and readiness to run for the office of the president in the 2023 general elections if his party, the APC zones the position to the South-east.
