Uzor Kalu Tells Igbo To Wait For Another Time To Produce A President 

Kalu urged Igbo leaders interested in leading the nation to hold off until the main political parties agreed to zone their presidential tickets to the southeast.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The Senate’s Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, claims that the Igbo would have to wait till Nigerians agree to zone the presidency to the southeast before they elect an Igbo person as president.

Without the seat being designated to the Southeast, he claimed, it would be challenging for any Igbo to win the presidency.

Kalu made this statement to the media while briefing them at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, On February 20, 2022,

The congressman asserted that winning the president requires the backing of all of the country’s geopolitical regions, saying that it is not a regional problem.

Therefore, Kalu urged Igbo leaders interested in leading the nation to hold off until the main political parties agreed to zone their presidential tickets to the southeast.

The southeast will benefit most under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s leadership, he added, thus he urged its citizens to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next elections.

Kalu said, “Presidency is not a regional issue. I asked the political parties to zone the presidency to the South East. When they didn’t do that, and since the presidency is not a regional issue, I had to withdraw.

“I have no problem with Igbo man being president. But we have to do it with other Nigerians. If we don’t do it with other Nigerians, it is not going to work, no matter how popular you are. It’s president of Nigeria, not president of Igboland.

“I’m an Igbo man to the core. I’m also a Nigerian to the core. If anyone from the Southeast would have been nominated for presidency, I would have been the one. So, it’s a party business. I have no grudges against anybody who is running.

“So, it is not personal. It is political and party. This thing is about party winning elections. I have chosen to be in APC. Why will I vote against Tinubu? It’s madness, and I’m not going to do it. Elections go along party line, not along tribal line.

“For me, we will wait for another time and see how all Nigerians will agree to zone the presidency to the Igboland. But for now, our presidential candidate is Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu is a strategic leader, he will make his presidency beneficial to the Igbo. The Igbo will be the biggest beneficiaries of Tinubu’s presidency.”

Prior to Tinubu being the APC’s front-runner for president, Kalu had said that he would only run for office in 2023 provided the party allocated its presidential ticket to his area.