12th April, 2022
By Kingsley Okoye
The Chief Whip of Senate, Sen. Orji Kalu has boasted that he can raise Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be competing with that of the U.S., Japan and other developed countries within four years if he is elected president in 2023.
Kalu, a former governor of Abia said this while responding to questions of the 2023 presidential election in Abuja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Senator, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC said any one aspiring to become Nigeria’s president should be an individual with capacity to improve the economy, security and make all Nigerians happy.
Citing the example of himself, the former governor revealed that he he has 13,000 Nigerians under his employment across different sectors of the economy.
“I can change the economy in four years, I can bring back the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be competing with the U.S. and Japan and all the rest of them.
“I can bring back the capacity utilisation to be under 4 and 5 per cent like a hurricane.
“Everybody says he is a presidential aspirant, what is the experience, the public service experience, the capacity to build, I employ 13,000 workers in Nigeria and I have capacity to manage people.
He however said he will only compete for the presidential ticket of APC if it is zoned to the South East.
“But the party is supreme, if it zones the presidential position to South-East, I am number one candidate, there are only two zones that have never been President- the South- East and North –East.
“So, if they bring it to my zone, I am capable, I have everything it takes to deliver the APC to victory.
“Not by talk, but by action, I will rework the economy that every Nigerian, no matter where you live or stay you will be happy in your pocket, in your house, with sustained electricity and water supply.
“I will bring back the proudness of Nigerians to carry Nigerian passport, I am capable of doing that.
“Anybody that wants to be president must be a president that will be able to work for Nigerian people, the two major things a president should look at are the economy and security.
“These are areas of focus to bring back our economy to be a running economy.”
He said the current state of the economy was a reflection of the economic downturn in the world, noting that economies all over the world are experiencing challenges.
“It is not the cause of President Buhari, there is world-wide economic downturn, I have businesses all over the world and this businesses are not doing well.
“I have business in all the West African countries, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and we are losing money, and it is a worldwide deflation of all the economies,” Kalu said.
“I have told Nigerians that if it is zoned to the South- East, I’m already a candidate, because I am not desperate. But I am anxious to change the way of living and the economy of Nigeria which is what I know how to do best.
On the success of the APC convention, Kalu attributed it to wide consultations made by President Muhammadu Buhari that resulted in the emergence of Sen. Abdulahi Adamu, via consensus arrangement.
“Mr president in his wisdom was able to solve the problem, do you know how much money that was saved from the pockets of aspirants by that consensus? So the consensus was not just taken in the bedroom of the president, the president consulted the governors.
“He consulted the leadership of the National Assembly, which I was one of them, he consulted other stakeholders of the party, the youth and the aspirants and we did not fight, and it came out successfully.”
Kalu, again congratulated Buhari for the skills employed to ensure a successful convention of the APC.
(NAN)