BREAKING: I Never Withdrew From 2023 Presidential Race, Says Orji Kalu

• Contrary to several reports that Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has backed out from the presidential race, the Abia state politician has debunked the claims
• Kalu said he is still in the race like never before and does not intend to relinquish his aspirations to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari
• The former Abia state governor will be aiming his second shot at the presidency after a failed attempt in 2007

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has dismissed reports that he relinquished his quest to contest for the presidential seat in the 2023 general elections, Legit.ng reports.

According to a statement issued by the presidential aspirants via his social media page on Wednesday, April 27, he labeled such reports as unambiguous.

Kalu who requested that other regions should support the southeast for the presidency especially people from the eastern region said he was misunderstood.

He further reiterated that he will still be running for the presidential seat in Aso Rock at the forthcoming general election in 2023.

He said:

“None of the other aspirants is more Nigerian than me. Aside from the capacity and what it takes to govern a country as diverse as Nigeria, I remain the most detribalized living Nigerian today and these are verifiable facts.

“And for clarification purposes, I am still in the presidential race. My statement yesterday did not state that I withdrew from the race.”

Southeast deserves a shot at the presidency - Orji Kalu

Also contained in the statement, Kalu took time to express his displeasure over the growing trend of southeastern marginalization for the presidential seat.

He stated that over the years the notion of “power is not given but taken” has always been the focal point when an easterner is contesting for the presidency.

Kalu who was not pleased with the pattern said it was evident that power has been deliberately shifted from his region over the years.

He said:

“Some people continue to throw this lamba that “power is not given but taken." In reality, for a Southerner to become president of Nigeria, power is given and not taken. Power was given to the South West in 1999. Power was given to the South South in 2011.

“In 2015, the North did not give power to the South and that was why a sitting president lost. Unless for mischievous and selfish reasons against the South East, no one can comfortably deny these facts.”

Kalu however urged that equity and fairness are needed to be implored in the forthcoming general election.

The former Abia state governor further stated that a southeast and northeast ticket will be a justifiable move due to the fact that the southeast still remains the only region out of the major regions in the country yet to produce the president of Nigeria.

Kalu said:

“It is very ungodly and immoral for any Southerner to talk about fairness and equity, but sees no fairness in working hard to cease the third meat that belongs to their remaining brother.

“It is a false claim and an old propaganda that the South East is not united in this contest. In this pursuit for presidency, there is nothing the South East is doing that is different from what others are doing. Let the two major political parties zone their tickets to the South East and see the miracle that will happen to Nigeria.”

2023: Group holds rally, endorses Orji Uzor Kalu for president

Legit.ng previously reported that a group, Orji Uzor Kalu Southern Team for President 2023 coordinated by Honorable Lui Ndukwe declared their support for Kalu as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The group expressed confidence that it will be easier for the APC to win the presidential election if Senator Kalu emerges as the party’s standard-bearer in the 2023 presidential election.

Ndukwe, a two-time local government chairman of Oshimili North local government area of Delta state, said:

“Orji Uzor Kalu is young, experienced and a dynamic southerner with the capacity we all yearn for.”

2023: Northeast group canvasses support for Orji Uzor Kalu

Similarly, a group from the northeast region - Uzor Kalu Support Group (UKSUG) has urged Senator Kalu to run for the 2023 presidential election.

The group said Senator Kalu has wide contacts and acceptance across the country to run for the 2023 presidency.

The coordinator of UKSUG in the northeast, Mohammed Ajiji who said this in a statement seen by Legit.ng, added that the group believes that Senator Kalu has the professional and business acumen required to consolidate on the gains so far recorded by the Buhari administration.

Source: Legit.ng