Former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu Explains Why He Dumped PDP for APC
This post first appeared on Linda Ikeji's blog. Read more here on Samson Ogunbameru's blog...
Read what he (Orji Uzor Kalu) shared on Facebook this morning
below...
As an Igbo man who has seen it all,
trained in business by the Hausa Fulani
and started business in the South West.
I sincerely believe it is better for the Igbos to sit where other Nigerians are sitting.
I recall that on complaining of how the
bad roads in the South East has been a
great source of worry to me and our
people, President Muhammadu Buhari
personally promised me that all the
contractors in the South East will return
to sites before the end of November.
Today, contractors are fully back to the
many abandoned Federal roads in Eastern Nigeria. These are part of the reasons for joining the party. I joined the APC because President Buhari has fulfilled the promise he made to me and we are hopeful he will do more.
premium times shared this this afternoon
Below.....
" former Governor of Abia
State, Orji Kalu, on Wednesday said he joined the ruling All Progressives Congress to help diffuse tensions that the party is an
ethnic or religious
contraption. Mr. Kalu sent ripples through the country’s political
atmosphere when he disclosed Wednesday afternoon that he’d cross-
carpeted to the APC since
Sunday.
He announced his move to
the APC hours after resigning from the Progressive Peoples
Alliance, a party he established in 2006 and had
funded since then.
“If they see us in this place, they will know that that APC
is not an ethnic or religious
party,” Mr. Kalu said in a
press briefing to announce the move.
The former governor
admitted that the APC will be
a tough sell in the South East, but expressed optimism that
it will eventually be accepted
after intense lobbying of
those that matter in the region. “It is something that we need
to be explaining to the Catholic bishops, Anglican
bishops, the Pentecostal
churches and the rest of them,” Mr. Kalu said.
Mr. Kalu said he represented
an asset to the APC because
his move to the party had seen no fewer than 4,000
residents of Abia State join it
within the last few days, a
crowd he said included two serving federal lawmakers.
“Between Sunday when I registered at Igbere and now,
there are 4,000 new members
already registered with the
APC in Abia without making
it open,” Mr. Kalu said.
“there are two members of the House of Representatives who are there right now that are joining the APC.”
Mr. Kalu stated that he deliberately
delayed his move to the APC in order to
deprive his political detractors of any
ground to launch attacks against him.
“If I had joined at the early times when
they were forming the government, it
would have appeared as if I want to be
part of that process,” Mr. Kalu said.
“This is the right time to join.”
Mr. Kalu said his move to the APC was
the result of several months of
negotiation with the party’s executives, a
discussion he said was going on at the
same time as when the PDP national
leaders were lobbying him.
The politician said he had no intention
of running for office but only to serve as
a loyal and unifying figure within the
APC.
“I am not going to run for any office for
now. I am going to be a very good party
man,” Mr. Kalu said. “But if the party
find me worthy to do anything, I will do
it.”
Mr. Kalu’s move to the APC came two
weeks after the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission re-arraigned him
for corruption he allegedly perpetrated
while he was governor of Abia between
1999-2003.
But the former governor appeared to
pre-empt speculation that may arise
from his decision to join the APC.
“I am sure that you know that nobody
can pocket me in Nigeria or make me
say what I don’t want to say or do what I
don’t want to do,” he said"
Read what he (Orji Uzor Kalu) shared on Facebook this morning
below...
As an Igbo man who has seen it all,
trained in business by the Hausa Fulani
and started business in the South West.
I sincerely believe it is better for the Igbos to sit where other Nigerians are sitting.
I recall that on complaining of how the
bad roads in the South East has been a
great source of worry to me and our
people, President Muhammadu Buhari
personally promised me that all the
contractors in the South East will return
to sites before the end of November.
Today, contractors are fully back to the
many abandoned Federal roads in Eastern Nigeria. These are part of the reasons for joining the party. I joined the APC because President Buhari has fulfilled the promise he made to me and we are hopeful he will do more.
premium times shared this this afternoon
Below.....
" former Governor of Abia
State, Orji Kalu, on Wednesday said he joined the ruling All Progressives Congress to help diffuse tensions that the party is an
ethnic or religious
contraption. Mr. Kalu sent ripples through the country’s political
atmosphere when he disclosed Wednesday afternoon that he’d cross-
carpeted to the APC since
Sunday.
He announced his move to
the APC hours after resigning from the Progressive Peoples
Alliance, a party he established in 2006 and had
funded since then.
“If they see us in this place, they will know that that APC
is not an ethnic or religious
party,” Mr. Kalu said in a
press briefing to announce the move.
The former governor
admitted that the APC will be
a tough sell in the South East, but expressed optimism that
it will eventually be accepted
after intense lobbying of
those that matter in the region. “It is something that we need
to be explaining to the Catholic bishops, Anglican
bishops, the Pentecostal
churches and the rest of them,” Mr. Kalu said.
Mr. Kalu said he represented
an asset to the APC because
his move to the party had seen no fewer than 4,000
residents of Abia State join it
within the last few days, a
crowd he said included two serving federal lawmakers.
“Between Sunday when I registered at Igbere and now,
there are 4,000 new members
already registered with the
APC in Abia without making
it open,” Mr. Kalu said.
“there are two members of the House of Representatives who are there right now that are joining the APC.”
Mr. Kalu stated that he deliberately
delayed his move to the APC in order to
deprive his political detractors of any
ground to launch attacks against him.
“If I had joined at the early times when
they were forming the government, it
would have appeared as if I want to be
part of that process,” Mr. Kalu said.
“This is the right time to join.”
Mr. Kalu said his move to the APC was
the result of several months of
negotiation with the party’s executives, a
discussion he said was going on at the
same time as when the PDP national
leaders were lobbying him.
The politician said he had no intention
of running for office but only to serve as
a loyal and unifying figure within the
APC.
“I am not going to run for any office for
now. I am going to be a very good party
man,” Mr. Kalu said. “But if the party
find me worthy to do anything, I will do
it.”
Mr. Kalu’s move to the APC came two
weeks after the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission re-arraigned him
for corruption he allegedly perpetrated
while he was governor of Abia between
1999-2003.
But the former governor appeared to
pre-empt speculation that may arise
from his decision to join the APC.
“I am sure that you know that nobody
can pocket me in Nigeria or make me
say what I don’t want to say or do what I
don’t want to do,” he said"
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