Orji Kalu suspends ambition for Abia North Senatorial Race

According to Thisdaylive the Former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu, has quit his ambition to run for the Abia North Senatorial district Race under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

He wrote a letter to the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, dated November 24, he stated that he is withdrawing from the race because the Abia State Governor, Theodore Orji, has concluded plans to anoint aspirants to run for various post in the state.Read his letter below,
“Along the line, however, it became apparent that the Abia state governor, Chief T.A Orji wants to handpick all candidates, both into executive and legislative position. He wants to choose his own successor, fill the 24 House of Assembly seats, the eight federal constituencies and the three senatorial seats.

“Governor Orji knew ahead of time that he had a candidate in mind but deliberately allowed eminent Abia citizens like Dr. Alex Otti, GMD of Diamons bank to resign from his lofty position when he should have advised him to remain there.

“He also allowed Chief Emeka Wogu, minister of labour to resign and lose Abia slot in the Federal Executive Council and other ministerial committees; he equally allowed two ranking members of the Senate in the person of Senator Nkechi Nwogu, chairman Senate committee on oil and gas and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, chairman Senate committee on Media and Information to pick gubernatorial forms when he should have advised them to go for re-election in the senate.

“I find all these very disturbing. When Governor Orji was to be elected the first time in 2007, everyone knew where I stood three years before then that he was my anointed candidate. There was absolutely no ambiguity unlike now that he has allowed these people to lose their positions and resources chasing shadows. It is quite obvious that Governor Orji’s plan is to bring everybody down.”

“I know that members of the National Working Committee have intervened severally and assured me that i would be screened between Thursday and Friday last week for the senatorial race. However, it did not happen, causing me to conclude that the party has perhaps acquiesced to the desire of Governor Orji to handpick all the candidates.

“If this is the true picture of things, I wish to defer to the judgement and decision of the party. Rather than be an intractable issue in the Abia chapter of our great party, I would rather subordinate personal ambition for party cohesion, and quit the forthcoming electoral race. I hereby formally withdraw from the bid to represent the good people of Abia North in the senate next year.”