Deputy National Coordinator, Informal Sector, Chidiebere Okoh, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to zone the Senate President position to senator-elect representing Abia North, Dr. Orji Uzor-Kalu, so he can succeed incumbent, Bukola Saraki.
Okoh said the former Abia State governor, Kalu, deserves the senate presidency.
He said this when he visited the headquarters of Sun Publishing Limited, Apapa, Lagos.
Okoh warned that failure to achieve that would have negative impact on the zone politically and added that the pursuit for the South East to produce the Senate President has been made easier since the APC haszoned the position to the area.
Okoh said the drama of the 2015 election became an impediment to getting the senate president position for Igbo and that Ndigbo support for APC was due to Kalu’s eftorts in making his people realise certain things about the party.
The agenda of making an Igbo man senate president should not be negotiable in the Ninth Senate, and Orji Uzor Kalu should be considered.
He said: “I am using this medium to appeal and tip Kalu for senate president. I am calling on all the senatorial candidates in the South East, who were elected under the APC or other parties to please, work together and win the seat for us.
“This is important because the APC, as the ruling party, has zoned the senate president position to the South East and it is left to us to clinch that position by making sure that we support and encourage our brother in APC, including those who are not of the APC to support the APC.
“If the South East gets this position, it will not be difficult for it to produce the president in 2023. Please, my brothers and sisters, this is the time to make a difference. We have to move our zone forward and make way for development to take place in our land.
“Kalu is more than qualified to lead this new senate to the promised land as he will work in synergy with President Muhammadu Buhari to better the welfare of Nigerians.
“If elected, it is also going to be an opportunity for Nigerians to enjoy the ingenuity bestowed on Ndigbo by God; towards development and progress in all aspects of the economy”
Okoh stressed that “Kalu is the one who had assured Igbos there would be genuine commitment to development of the South East people, from this administration, he really mobilised grassroots support for the president. There is a lot of work to do for the Igbos and we shall work to support the programmes of the Federal Government to ensure they succeed but they should consider Kalu.”