Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Senator representing Abia North, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has come under fire “for proposing and promoting” Muslim-Muslim ticket for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This is as some of his constituents have renewed call for his recall from the Senate, describing his action as embarrassing and a betrayal to the people.
The first time moves were made for the recall of the Senate Chief Whip from the red chamber was last year when he spent over 100 days in prison following his incarceration over alleged financial impropriety while he held sway as Governor.
The renewed call for his recall was triggered by the response of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, who was unequivocal in his condemnation of the decision.
Lawal, a strong political ally of Tinubu from the North-East, described the action of Tinubu as “satanic and a disastrous error,” saying that Christians in the North would revolt against it.
The former SGF who is also a chieftain of the ruling APC, said that he had personally advised against Muslim-Muslim ticket which he described as a disrespect for Christians, regretted that sycophants around Tinubu were misleading him.
Lawal’s outburst is coming less than 24 hours after Northern Christians in APC announced their pulling out from Tinubu’s campaign team, citing Muslim-Muslim ticket as reason for their withdrawal.
According to them, Tinubu’s action amounts to daring Christians, hence their conscience will no longer allow them drum support for somebody who have no regard for their religion.
Lawal had said: “The result is that they have played on his long-term ambition to be president and have built it into a sort of desperation and a crescendo that easily justifies this satanic resort to a Muslim-Muslim ticket. This is the calamity that has befallen my friend.
“It appears that the gods want to destroy the APC and its presidential candidate and have chosen the instrumentality of the northern Muslim governors and their super ambitious tool and Kashim Ibrahim for this purpose.
“Alhaji Kashim Shettima is a Greek gift from the northern governors to Tinubu. I advise Bola to make sure Kashim’s two hands are always in his plain sight and empty.
“Now tell me which Christian will vote for the APC with the following contraption: Muslim presidential candidate (Lagos), Muslim vice presidential candidate (Borno), Muslim National Chairman (Nasarawa), Muslim Deputy National Chairman (Borno), Muslim President (Katsina); Muslim Senate President (Yobe); Muslim Speaker (Lagos); Muslim Deputy Speaker (Plateau) e.t.c.,” he added.
Some APC chieftains including a former governorship candidate of the party in Rivers State, Tonye Princewill; and Air Vice Marshal Frank Ajobena (retd.), from Delta State, have all resigned their membership of the party citing Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Angered by the zeal of their Senator in propagating and defending Muslim/Muslim ticket which some APC chieftains have roundly condemned, some of Kalu’s constituents want him punished.
According to them, the Senate Whip has betrayed Christians, and disgraced Abia North by propagating an unpopular cause capable of plunging Nigeria into an avoidable religious crisis.
They argued that if other APC chieftains including Northerners are withdrawing their support for Tinubu and some dropping the broom because of the “divisive decision” being promoted by Kalu, they no longer felt proud to have him as their Senator.
Former Arochukwu Local Government boss, Prince Kingsley Ngunu, who spoke with Ikengaonline in Umuahia, wondered why the Abia North Senator would always want to champion an unpopular cause, a sad development he said, had become “a huge source of embarrassment” to the zone.
“I don’t know why our Senator would always like to be in the news for the wrong reason. He is busy championing Muslim-Muslim ticket when his fellow APC members who are even closer to Tinubu, and more APC than him, are resigning from the party because of the ‘satanic error.’
“The other time, Orji Uzor Kalu was promoting northern presidency and saying he will be satisfied to be a sweeper at Aso Rock provided Ahmad Lawan his friend emerged as the President. As soon as the Lawan’s ticket could not fly he immediately switched camp to Tinubu whose candidature he had strongly opposed.
“Our Senator is yet to utter a word on the incessant kidnappings in Abia North especially Umunneochi and Uturu but he is busy championing Muslim-Muslim ticket as if that were part of his mandate.
“Abia North has become a comic relief at the Senate because we have a Senator who will tell the CJN to go and make a law and bring to the Senate for endorsement.
“We demand that he should come back so that Abia North will replace him with somebody who understands the art of lawmaking and what it means to be at the Senate.”
In the same vein, one of the political stakeholders in Isu, Chief Tony Okoro, said Senator Kalu had by his utterances, shown that he was at the Senate to seek his personal interest and not that of the zone.
He wondered why he would abandon matters that affect the zone and take over an unpopular campaign that would pitch Abia North against the Christian community in Nigeria.
“I must tell you that I’m disappointed because the story everywhere now is that my Senator was the one who proposed and sold the idea of Muslim-Muslim ticket to Tinubu.
“How can I be represented by someone who is not concerned that Abia North in under siege by Kidnappers, Fulani herdsmen and bandits but is always in the news for the wrong cause? He has to resign or be recalled so a better person can represent Abia North.
“Somebody boasted of bringing RUGA to Lokpanta but Umunneochi youths have been protesting that the same Cattle Market has become a source of misery, has he come out to say anything?
“Why is it only Orji Uzor that has not seen anything wrong with Muslim-Muslim ticket in a highly religion-sensitive country with slightly higher number of Christians?”
