The chief whip of the Ninth Senate, Orji Kalu, has maintained that he won’t shelve his Senate Presidency ambition for anybody.
Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday morning at the National Assembly complex in Abuja, Kalu disclosed that he was in talks with one of the contenders for the Senate Presidency, former Zamfara governor, Abdulaziz Yari over collaboration and partnerships.
He said both he and Kalu have the interest of Nigeria and Tinubu’s presidency at heart, adding they have their separate backers and sponsors.
Recall that the National Working Committee of the All Progressive Party had named Senators Godswill Akpabio and Jibrin Barau as its preferred candidates for the office of the Senate President and Deputy respectively.
Senator Kalu said, “I won’t step down for anybody.
“We are talking with Governor Yari. Our group and his group are talking intimately and in partnership. We will make sure that no one zone can produce the Senate presidency. Like I used to tell people, no zone can produce the president of Nigeria.
“What we are trying to do with Senator Yari is a united partnership that will work for Nigeria. In the coming days or weeks, that partnership will be unveiled, so we are in serious talks. I cannot deny it; Yari is a friend of mine and I’m his friend and we have decided to talk. We have been speaking for the past four weeks and the result will be unveiled by our sponsors, he has his sponsors and I have my sponsors.”
He added, “The sponsors will come together to decide what direction this partnership will be. I’ll be very happy to reveal what the sponsors will say. Two of us are thinking of the integrity of the Senate and support President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima. If you are thinking that what happened during Saraki’s time, it will never happen again.”
In 2015, Bukola Saraki, a former governor of Kwara state, defiled the All Progressives Congress to emerge senate president. The ruling party at the time chose current Senate President Ahmad Lawan.
The chief whip noted that the collaborations of Kalu-Yari won’t disappoint Nigerians.
He said, “We are capable of representing ourselves; Yari-Kalu – Kalu-Yari – we won’t disappoint Nigerians. We will give Nigerians what they require and the Nigerian people won’t be disappointed.”