How I will change the Senate

Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia State and well heeled international businessman is

making his second attempt for a Senate seat. The first attempt turned into a no contest when according to him he was stopped from stepping out to vote on Election Day by four armoured tanks positioned outside his gate. Kalu who is vying on the ticket of the Progressives Peoples Alliance, PPA in this interview reviews that state of affairs in the country, his native Abia State among other issues.

Given your flourishing business interests and your regular trips out of the country, how do you think you can give the people adequate representation?

I was governor here for eight years and I sat here to do the job. I am going to do this job for the best interest of the people of our senatorial district and indeed Nigerians. I am going to be among the foremost senators Nigeria will ever have because I will like us to do the right things, be in the right places, enact laws to enhance commerce. Like I am disappointed that the National Assembly has not been able to do anything on PIB. The politics of today requires the input of global businessmen.

So, what are you going to do in the Senate?

It is going to be a tug of war because people like me will be in the minority.

Support of good policies

But I thank God that I have capacity to lobby and move things around. So, I believe that I will be able to do a lot in support of good policies that will be able to enhance the development of Nigeria.

You are going on the platform of PPA, what of your pledge to the PDP?

That may be at the national level because at the state level…There is no difference between PDP and PPA because PDP is the senior brother of PPA. They have a great alliance and that alliance has always been there.

Forget about what the state is going to do. We are here to promote the ideas of the Federal Government and it is going to work.

In your first contest for the Senate you lost and here you go again…

Did I really lose?

Did you vote?

I did not vote. So, I didn’t lose.

Why did you not vote?

They caged me into my house with four Armoured Personnel Carriers, APCs. You know what happened.

How are you sure that will not happen again?

It will not! Our people will burn down the state. We are ready for them, we are not going to take it from anybody. The governor cannot try it. If he tries it, it would be the end of his administration because I have left him for too long and this is the last opportunity I am giving him. I kept quiet because of President Jonathan because I don’t want crisis here for him. The governor is very incompetent, he is unreasonable and he is a liar.

He was there as your chief of staff for eight years.

Yes, he was hiding his true colours from me. Everybody warned me because what they were seeing, I wasn’t seeing. You saw me eating with several people last night, but he is one staff I had who never ate on the same table with me. For eight years. Something was wrong. He was not sincere. All my commissioners, all my SAs, all the people I worked with, speaker of the House, members of the House of Assembly, all of them ate on my table.

What was his excuse?

He was pretending to be a good man. But I told this man that your face looks like the face of a betrayer, that you will betray me one day. So, you see I am not surprised. I don’t lose any sleep.

You see, he tried to deceive people that he was humble. If there is a problem, that Jonathan needs to be defended tomorrow, he will be the first to run away and I will stand by Jonathan. What I stand for, I stand for. If there is a little problem, he will do 180 degrees turn and I will stand.

Supports Jonathan

Buhari is very close to me. He has slept in this house many times but I support Jonathan. If Buhari wins tomorrow that is his business, life continues because I will not have any regrets but people like Orji will be the first to somersault. All this loyalty he pledges to Jonathan will be zero and if we leave this state for him he would lose it. Jonathan is very lucky that the three leading political parties here are all supporting him.  He will lose this election if he is banking on Orji.

He, Orji is also contesting for Senate?

I wish him well, I can never go and campaign against him. He is competent to represent his people in the Senate as an ex-governor and I will like to see him in the Senate as it will be more robust for our state and our people.

What is your view about the coming presidential election?

My view is very straight, it is going to be very tight and that is why we here must work very hard. Remember in September 2014 when Channels Television interviewed me, I said then that it would be balance of terror and many people in PDP wanted to kill me. When I came back to Abuja many of them were bashing me and saying that we have already won with 70%, but I told them that you people are not reading the handwriting. It was then I told Nigerians that Jonathan has done a lot for Nigeria but that nobody was publicising it. That statement almost cost me the Senate seat because they believed that I was too vocal in telling them the truth. That was loyalty.