ABUJA- CHAIRMAN, Senate Committee on South East Development Commission, SEDC, Senator Orji Kalu, APC, Abia North has taken a swipe at the recent book “A Journey in Service”, authored by former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, urging President Bola Tinubu to place picture of MKO Abiola among past Presidents.
Answering questions from Journalists yesterday in Abuja, the former Abia State Governor who noted that the former Military President should call out the names of the Principal Actors that led to the annulment of the election widely adjudged as the freest, fairest, and most credible poll in the history of the country, that Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, said that since late Chief Moshood Abiola won the election, his picture should be placed among Nigeria’s past presidents.
On the June 12 Election and Babangida’s Role, Senator Kalu said, “I look forward to the second edition of Babangida’s book because the first did not reveal all the realities. I was present during the events of June 12, and I know what happened. Babangida should call out the names of those responsible for preventing the election declaration. The coup in question was not an Igbo coup; it was a Nigerian coup, executed by the military. Moshood Abiola won that election, and there is no doubt about it.”
On Recognizing Abiola’s Victory:
Following the confession of Ibrahim Babangida, Kalu who appealed to President Tinubu to accord the Late Presidential Candidate Moshood Abiola full Presidential honours, urged Tinubu to swear in Abiola as the duly elected President of the June 12 , 1993 Presidential election in Postmortem and including the inclusion of his Presidential portrait among other Past Presidents of the Country.
According to Kalu through such the Abiola family will be healed and compensated from the electoral tragedy which befell them and the nation.
He said, “Since Abiola won, his picture should be placed among Nigeria’s past presidents. I commend former President Buhari for giving him a posthumous national honor, but I would also appeal to President Tinubu to officially recognize him and place his image where it belongs. This would help bring closure to his family.”
Speaking further, Senator Orji has expressed confidence that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will complete his two terms in office considering the level of successes he recorded in bold economic, social and political policies.
Giving more reasons why he believed that President Tinubu will win a second term in office in 2027, Kalu pointed out that the ruling Party the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) remains firm in its decision to cede its 2027 Presidential Ticket to Tinubu in line with the zoning arrangement to maintain a North-South power balance.
Kalu who mentioned the economic reform Policies of the President which he said iis already delivering positive economic results, used the Manufacturing sector as an example Kalu stated that the cost of production had reduced to 18.5 percent from 23 percent which it was last year.
Orji Kalu said; ” The good news is that we shall win again and President Tinubu will return.
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“To be honest with you Asiwaju will win, many Presidents in Nigeria who have not done very well—I won’t call any names and they won their second term. We are appealing to Nigerians to support us.
“We are not going to ruffle ourselves with the APC convention. We have only one Presidential candidate which is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“In line with democratic ethics we are not looking for any other person or candidate but the problem of Nigeria is that you people don’t like to consolidate gains of reforms.
Asking Nigerians to exercise more patience with the administration, Kalu who noted that the stability in the exchange rate is also another indication that the President’s reforms are yielding positive results, said, “It might be very difficult today, very hard and people are complaining but the reform is trickling down, somebody just told me this morning that the Dollar is 1490, so the reform is working but we should be patient.
“I am a manufacturer and I can tell you that Manufacturing costs have gone up, last year it was 23 percent but early this year it has gone down to about 18.5 percent. You can confirm from the The Lagos Chamber Of Commerce And Industry (LCCCI) what I am giving you is the real fact.
“I believe that there is hope in these reforms. It is difficult everywhere in the world but the most important thing is that initially they were done in a hurry now the President is taking time with his economic team and you can see that the President is making wilder consultations.”
Kalu also thanked Babangida for erasing the false narrative that the Igbo Tribe orchestrated the 1966 coup events that led to the military mutiny that ousted the then civilian administration led by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa.
He said, “Because people are thinking that Babangida lied but I am very grateful the coup they called Igbo coup has been clarified , although I don’t need Babangida to tell me that the Coup was not executed by the Igbos , that is why I am a true Nigerian.
“That coup was a Nigerian coup planned and executed by the Military and some people failed to do their job and their Igbos are bearing the brunt and that is not fair to the Igbos.”
