Senator Orji Kalu, head of the Senate caucus, said he decided to run for president after being approached by leaders from the six geopolitical zones.
This comes after he revealed that he had previously told other presidential candidates, including former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu, former Senate President Pius Anyim and Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi, not to would apply
Kalu, in an interview with Silverbird Television on Friday that was monitored by Newslodge, said leaders mentioned his ability and experience, adding that he changed his mind about not participating after due consultation and a request for participation from prominent elders. nationals.
He expressed confidence in his ability and experience to reverse the country’s economy and combat insecurity.
“I didn’t want to join this contest before. When I met with Senator Tinubu, I told him I was not running. When I met with Governor Umahi, I told him that I was not running. When I also met with Senator Pius Anyim, I told him that I would not participate. A couple of days after my talk with them, the elders from the west, the elders from the north, the southeast and the Niger Delta came to see me on January 5, and I also went to see a couple of them,” he said. .
“I flew from my village to go around some places and met them in the north, west and somewhere in Lagos and Warri and came back on the 8th back to Igbere, my hometown, and also met with the elders of my community and they said it’s a possibility. And that is why I have not told these people to whom I initially told that I would not present myself that I will now present myself. I will still have a meeting with them and formally tell them that I am going to run for president.”
In response to media reports that he had attacked Tinubu, Kalu stated that the two have a deep friendship and that the former Lagos governor’s presidential ambitions do not threaten his own.
“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 very deep-rooted. When my wife and I returned to Abia as governor, no one was occupying my house on Victoria Island, Lagos. So my children were in school at the time and some were in the Corona Schools while one was in the French International School in 1998 and living with Senator Oluremi Tinubu. So we are like a family and politics cannot separate us,” he said.
“In 2003 when Tinubu was seeking re-election and I saw that he was falling behind, I helped him and it is part of what caused my problem with former president (Olusegun) Obasanjo. So we’re a family and we can’t fight over 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 in Eagle Square I’ll give a very good account of myself.