Senator-elect and former Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has declared that he will reject a ministerial position if he were offered one. Kalu said this at the second annual lecture of Freedom Online, an online newspaper.
The former Abia governor, who was elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was chairman of the lecture.
He said: “I will not accept a ministerial position if I were offered one. I am the elected representative for Abia North senatorial district.”
Kalu further noted that even though he is elected to represent Abia North, his representation will cover the entire country because his oath of office will be to serve the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I have just been elected to the Senate. I’ve not even been sworn in. Don’t worry yourself; my vibrancy will always be felt by the people I represent. I will give the people quality representation. When I was governor, I represented the people of Abia state to the best of my ability.
“This time I am not going to represent only the people of Abia North, but the people of Nigeria, which oath I am going to take.
“I am not going to be taking an oath that I am senator of Abia North, I am going to take an oath of office as senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So, even in Elewe, I am going to represent them as well as I represent the people of Abia North.”
Kalu also reiterated he will contest for the position of Deputy Senate President, because equity demands that all the major tribes of the country are represented in the leadership of the Ninth National Assembly.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m the one there, what matters is that, in constituting the leadership, all the major ethnic groups would be represented. It is fair, I am not asking this for anything else, I am asking it for equity justice and fair play. Even this one they are saying we did not vote for APC; President Muhammadu Buhari has not said it. It is only some people in the media that are saying it,” Kalu added.
He, however, said he will respect and abide by the decision of the party on the matter.
“I still hope that the party will be gracious enough to zone the positions. I don’t want to go against the party. It will not be a healthy relationship between me and the party and the party and other people. We are capable of going to war, but, it is not good to always go to war. I want the party to zone the offices; they can say we are giving North East the position of Senate president, we are giving South East position of Speaker; we have given South East deputy senate president, we have given North Central deputy speaker and so on and we will have peace,” Kalu further added.