•Urges president to take APC’s BoT chair after office
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Chief Whip of the senate, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, yesterday, formally informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his intention to run for the position of the Senate President.
The former Abia State governor, who met with the president at the State House Abuja, solicited support for the position to be zoned to the South East by the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to him, if the position is zoned to the region, it would stimulate peace in the country.
Kalu argued that though the zone might not have voted for Senator Bola Tinubu, President-elect, at the recently concluded election, making him (Kanu) Senate president would bring peace and honour to the country.
He equally disclosed that he discussed the stability of the ruling party with the president.
According to him, he suggested to the president to take over the position of the Board of Trustees (BoT) immediately after handing over to the President-elect on May 29.
“The party should bring back our Board of Trustees or something that looks like it, so that Mr President will be Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party so that every four or five months, he will come and see how the party is doing.
“We cannot just leave the party empty, it was done in the young days of the APC so that the President will still be part of the conscience of the party.
“We will have somebody to run to when we have problems in the party because it was just God that saved our party, that is the truth.
“God saved our party because the quarrel inside the party was so much, the rancour is so much. It’s just God that saved this party.
“So, we need a man like President Buhari to be aside, every three, four months, we’ll go and drag him from Daura and he will settle party matters, we’ll put him back, he goes back there and continues looking after his cattle and rice, and all the rest of them.
“I’m not yet ready to look after my palm kernel, I have more time to go before I start going to look after my palm kernel,” he said.
The senator noted that the ruling party was faced with serious crises before the just concluded general elections, adding that Buhari’s interventions saved the APC from going under.
He, therefore, urged the president not to totally retire from politics but take over the leadership of the ruling party at the highest level in order to give direction.