As the 2023 election approaches, foremost nationalist, Chief Mbazulike Amechi has criticised Orji Kalu, Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, for abandoning the quest for southeast presidency and throwing his weight behind Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Kalu, who had been advocating for a south-easterner to become the next president of Nigeria, had, in January, announced he would contest the presidency if the ticket of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is zoned to the south.
However, in a statement recently, the former Abia State governor said he decided to withdraw from the race since there is “no zoning” in the APC and the contest has been thrown open to all aspirants.
He also announced his decision to continue to represent Abia North Senatorial District, while endorsing Lawan as presidential candidate. According to him, considering the southeast will most likely not get the ruling APC’s presidential slot, the North-West region, which has never also produced a democratically-elected president, should rightly be backed.
“Orji Uzor Kalu and his likes have the right to support anybody they want to support for the President of Nigeria in the 2023 Presidential election. They are, however, not so relevant in Igbo land; they can’t make any difference,” Chief Amechi said, according to Vanguard.
“If such people who have no relevance in South-East are saying otherwise to the demand of their people, how do you blame them? They cannot make any difference and so nobody should lose sleep about their actions and utterances, you may not even know what their plans are.”
