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Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) to avoid fielding a Southerner for the 2023 presidential race, saying it could lead the party into political obscurity.
Kaluโs opinion on Sunday was hinged on the fact that main opposition โ the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), elected a Northeasterner in the person of Atiku Abubakar, to be its flagbearer in the 2023 presidential race.
The Senate Chief Whip in a statement congratulated the PDP for electing the former vice-president, he however, noted that the victory in the PDP presidential primary election meant that Nigerians have understood his political calculations about 2023.
According to him, with Atikuโs emergence, โit is no longer feasible to talk about Southern candidates except the APC want to go on political retirementโ.
The former Abia State governor urged the National Chairman of the APC and the entire NWC to stamp their feet and zone APC presidential ticket to the North East.
While establishing that President Muhammad Buhari has a right to choose his successor, Kalu urged the president to pick Senator Ahmad Lawan as the one to step in when he eventually leaves office in 2023.
โIn every democratic setting, presidents and Governors support and pick their successors . I call on President Buhari to pick a successor from the North East and that will be the equity the South East needs. With the North East , the cycle will be closest to completion of regions producing the president of Nigeria.
โBy now , all APC aspirants should drop their ambition and support a North Easterner . Senator Ahmad Lawan is the destination,โ the lawmaker opined.
Kalu has been very vocal about having the APC choose a Northeasterner to fly the partyโs flag in 2023. According to him, if all parties will not completely allow a Southeastern become president in 2023, then it is only fair that the North East is handed power.
โif there is any zone that understands the pains of South Eastern Nigeria for being shut out of the presidential seat, it is its counterpart, the North East.
โThe two zones remain the only zones that are yet to produce a president despite having the most capable hands to govern the country,โ Kalu argued in a recent interview.
He explained that it was in the absence of a clear agreement of the southern brothers to support zoning of the tickets to the South East, that he decided to wield his support to the North East with the hope that justice is closer to his people.
