The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor-Kalu, has indicated that the 10th senate can not afford to vote for a Muslim Senate President for the reason that Nigeria remains a secular nation.
This is coming against the backdrop that the President-elect and his vice are of the same faith (Muslim-Muslim), and the party’s National Chairman is also a Muslim.
The former Abia Governor said he was in support of the Muslim-Muslim Presidential ticket of the APC which has produced Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Kasim Shettima as President-Elect and Vice-President-elect respectively.
However, he denounced the possibility of having another Muslim as Senate President because he said it will not augur well for the country.
“In a secular state, you will need to accommodate interest and spread to be able to maintain the secularity of the country.
“I believed in a muslim-muslim presidency, but I do not believe in a Muslim Senate President because it will not go fine for our country.”
Kalu who indicated interest to contest for the Presidency of the 10th Senate it is his turn, said, “I will not be comfortable with a Muslim Senate President because this is a secular state.”
Kalu said he was ready to run for Senate President if the party zones the position to his South East geopolitical zone because the party’s decision was supreme.
“And So I will like the party to zone it to my zone, to my village in Igbere because President Tinubu needs people of high character to turn around the economy and work for the masses, make laws that will enable him to turn around the economy, because, I am an economic person, an entrepreneur.”
Kalu said he had sponsored bills that can boost the economy like the railway bill that would enable state governments and private sector entities to build railways.
The former Abia state governor said he is the most qualified senator for the position based on Senate rules and his pedigree.
“The Senate has rules, let me be honest with you, if we practice true democracy, I should not be in contest with the body, because apart from the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, and the Senate Leader, I am the next ranking member in the Senate going by the position I occupy today in the 9th Senate.
“It is virtually impossible that the Senate will elect or zone for a new member to the Senate.
“The Senate is an established institution that needs somebody with experience, someone with the skills that will be able to relate.”
On the conduct of the general election, Kalu said no election all over the world is perfect, saying that there were lapses in some aspects of the election.
“We have some lapses, there is no democracy that is perfect, but we must move on, INEC has done the job they can do, it is left for us as lawmakers to tighten the noose in the act where there is a mistake and come back for amendment in the electoral act.
“And I want the media to promote where there is lapse.”
He said President-elect Bola Tinubu, when sworn in would stand firm in giving good governance, and would also stand firm with the 10th assembly to amend the constitution to make for an electronic voting process and do away with paper works in elections.
“For me no election is perfect, and President Tinubu is talking about fairness and he will work with the National Assembly in line with human rights to address the issues of economy, electoral processes, police, and security and remove the issues around our electoral processes.”
Kalu said he had been part of team Nigeria, and would always be there for Nigerians at all times.
“And I hope that Nigerians will pray for me to be the next Senate President because it is my turn,” Kalu said.
