29th May, 2022
Former governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately anoint Senate President Ahmad Lawan as his successor following the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Atiku polled 371 votes to defeat his main challenger and Governor of Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike, who scored 237 votes to emerge the presidential candidate of the PDP at the special convention of the party concluded in Abuja early Sunday morning.
The former Vice President is from Adamawa in North East Nigeria like the Senate President who is from Yobe State.
Kalu, against the demands of his Igbo people in the South East that the two major parties should zone their 2023 presidential ticket to their area have been campaigning for the Senate President’s 2023 ambition.
While congratulating the PDP for electing the former Vice President as its presidential candidate in a statement on his Facebook page on Sunday morning, Kalu said his emergence is justification of his campaign that a North Easterner should be elected Nigeria’s next president.
He therefore asked the national leadership of APC and President Buhari to endorse the zoning of the APC presidential ticket to the North East.
He also urged all presidential aspirants on the platform of APC to drop their ambition support the emergence of Lawan.
The former governor said it is no longer feasible to talk about the APC fielding a Southern president in 2023.
Read his full statement below
Congratulations to the PDP for electing a North Easterner . Nigerians must have seen what I saw yesterday . For our party the APC , it is no longer feasible to talk about Southern candidates except the APC want to go on political retirement.
I urge the National Chairman of the party and the entire NWC to stamp their feet and zone APC presidential ticket to the North East .
President Muhammad Buhari has a right to choose his successor and I call on him to pick Senator Ahmad Lawan as his successor. In 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.
By now , all APC aspirants should drop their ambition and support a North Easterner . Senator Ahmad Lawan is the destination.
Congratulations to the North East as we look forward to a president of Nigeria from the North East .
Federal Republic of Nigeria