It’s my turn to be next Senate President, says Uzor Kalu

Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has declared that it was his turn to be next Senate President, insisting that he was the most qualified candidate to emerge as the chairman of the 10th National Assembly.

According to Kalu, his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) should zone the office of the Senate President to Abia State and micro-zone same to his village.

“I will not be comfortable with a Muslim Senate President, the answer is no, I will not be comfortable with a Muslim Senate President because this is a secular state.

“In a secular state, we need to accommodate interests and spread to be able to maintain the secularity of our country.

“I believe in a Muslim-Muslim presidency, but I will not believe in the Senate President being a Muslim because it will not go fine for our country,” Kalu said.

He added: “On whether I will run for Senate President, I am ready to run for Senate President office if the party zones it to my zone because the party is supreme.

“So, I would like the party to zone it to my zone, because President Tinubu needs people of high character to turn around the economy and work for the masses and make laws that will enable him to turn around the economy. I am an economic person and an entrepreneur.

“The Bills I sponsored, like the railway bill, you can see that the state governments can now build railways, private sector entities can now build railways, like the electricity was unbundled.

“The Senate has rules, let me be honest with you. If we practice true democracy, I should not be in a contest with anybody in the race for Senate President office because apart from the Senate President and Deputy Senate President, the Senate Leader, I am the next ranking member in the Senate going by the position I occupy today in the 9th Senate.

“It is virtually impossible that the Senate will elect or zone it to a new member to the Senate. The Senate is an established institution that needs somebody with experience, someone with the skills and will be able to relate.”

On the just-concluded 2023 general elections, Kalu said no election is perfect, adding that, “we have some lapses, there is no democracy that is perfect.

“But we must move on, INEC has done the job they can do, it is left for us as lawmakers to tighten the noose in the Act. Where there is a mistake, we go back for amendment and I want you journalists to promote where there are lapses.

“President Tinubu, I want to assure you that he will stand firm in giving good governance, he will also stand firm with this 10th Assembly to amend the constitution to see that we can do electronic voting and do away with paperwork in our elections.

“For me, no election is perfect, and President Tinubu is talking about fairness and he will work with the National Assembly in line with human rights, address the issues of economy, electoral processes, police and security and remove issues around electoral processes.

“I am a team Nigeria, and will always be there for Nigerians at all times and I hope that Nigerians will pray for me to be Senate President because it is my turn,” Kalu stated.