By Sunday Okobi
A former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, has
said President Muhammadu Buhari can secure 75 per cent of the votes from the
South-east states in 2019 election if he is able to address the infrastructure
decay ravaging the zone.
Kalu, who spoke in an interview on Arise News Channel on Thursday, said if Buhari decides to run
for a second term in 2019, he would need to strike a deal with the Igbo on how
to fix federal roads and boost electricity supply in the region in order to win
their support.
"If the president is going to run again, we
will force him to declare our area a special area and we are going to give him
75 per cent of the votes. He will declare and give us an emergency
consideration.
“Some places like Aba and Onitsha can provide
anything you need and we can manufacture everything there if we can have
adequate electricity," he said.
When asked what can be done to stem the tide of agitations
and separatist positions in the South-east such as the one being led by the now
proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Kalu said as far he was
concerned, the people were only demanding for the right atmosphere that will
enable their businesses to thrive.
Kalu said with a good road network and adequate power supply
in major cities like Aba and Onitsha, the Igbo have the capacity to achieve the
country's target in industrialisation.
"Give us good light in Aba, give us good roads
in Aba, give us good roadside light in Onitsha. We are not asking for you to do
any other thing, we are capable of manufacturing things. Everything done in
China can be manufactured in Aba and Onitsha.
"We are capable, Nnewi is already doing it and
they will go hi-tech with technology if given the necessary encouragement. We
have the people but we don't have the management. We don't have the asset.
"The people that did the privatisation of the
electricity sector, did it wrongly. The electricity companies were handed over
to friends and that was not the right thing to do," he said.
The outspoken businessman cum politician also delved into the
alleged plot for a third term by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, describing
it as real.
Kalu said contrary to denials by some of the governors during
the period, all of them were actually approached to give their support for an
extension of the tenure of the former president beyond the limit provided for
in the constitution.
He, however, said while most of these governors succumbed to
pressures, he refused to be bought over.
According to Kalu, part of the reasons for his being dragged
before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was his objection to
the third term agenda.
Kalu also bemoaned Obasanjo's attitude to criticism and
opposition, describing him as just too petty.
"If he can just stop being a little bit petty,
he is a man that is very petty and I don't have any regret in saying so. You
see, if younger people did something to you, you should be able to forgive them
because life is very long.
"If younger people have said something against
you, you should be able to also forgive them because that is the right thing to
do. If Obasanjo had imbibed this kind of virtue, we would have gone far with
our democratic process but he left serious things and started chasing shadows.
"Instead of calling for unity, he put a lot of division because he wanted
a third term. In looking for third term, he was able to divide the governors,
although most of them are not speaking the truth today.”
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