…Says the Country Needs a Clean, Energetic, Visionary and Goal-Oriented Man in the Mould of Gov. Umahi to Represent the South-East
…Urges Him to Purge Himself of Corruption Case with EFCC before Eyeing and Lobbying for Such Exalted Office
Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze says it is not appropriate for the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Oji Uzo Kalu, to wake up and begin to arrogate to himself the sole right to head the leadership of the 10th Senate which would be inaugurated in a few months.
In a statement made available to media houses in Port Harcourt, Eze urged the former Abia Governor whose State has just broken a long record of hostage by godfathers and cabals who have serially looted their common patrimony and left them in squalor for decades to channel his energy towards relieving himself of the huge corruption allegation pending against him at the instance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.
“The claims by Senator Orji Uzo Kalu, the incumbent Chief Whip of the Senate that it is his right to be elected as the Senate President is mischievous and unacceptable seeing that he is yet to free himself from the corrupt charges still hanging on his neck and for ruining the chances of APC in Abia State through his poor style of leadership.“
Making a case for the Southeast, Eze said since the ouster of the PDP administration at the centre, the South Eastern region of Nigeria has suffered serial neglect in terms of allocation of key national offices and urged the APC as a party to use the opportunity within its disposal to redeem itself by ensuring that the office of the Senate President is allowed to the South East strictly by merit.
He said the plea became imperative since the South West and North have produced the President elect through Senator Bola Tinubu and Vice President elect through Shettima.
The party Chief said should the party consider his plea as appropriate, the search for a creditable and suitable candidate should be encouraged. And in that regard, he threw his weight behind the position of the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Ebonyi State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists of their choice of Governor David Nweze Umahi, the Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of the South East Governors Forum, who seems to be the best candidate from the zone suitable for the exalted position of Senate President.
The above notwithstanding, apart from the fact that Governor Umahi was the Southern Campaign Director of APC during the last Presidential Campaign but due to his ingenuity in politics Ebonyi is one of the very States in Nigeria that elected three APC Senators, an APC Governor and almost hundred percent of elected APC House of Reps and State Assembly while the opposite is the case of Senator Orji Uzor-Kalu in Abia State where the Labour Party is now the ruling party.
“I have watched this embodiment of unique feats and his magic in turning Ebonyi State from a desert to the Dubai of Nigeria within a space of eight years. I have also watched his vast connections with political leaders, stakeholders within the South East and across other divides of this nation and feel that he is the most suitable candidate for this particular office if it is zoned to the South East.”
Umahi will surely rise to become one of the most visionary Senate President ever in this nation if considered accordingly, Eze noted.
