The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu on Tuesday said that it was God that saved the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the just concluded elections, declaring that the quarrel in the party before the election was too much.
Senator Kalu stated this while briefing State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that his meeting with the President was to officially inform him (Buhari) of his intention to run for the President of the Senate if the APC zones the position to Southeast.
He said zoning the position to the Southeast would bring peace to Nigeria.
Senator Kalu, who represents Abia North Senatorial District, argued that though the zone may not have voted for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the President-elect, at the recently concluded Presidential election, making him the Senate President would bring peace and honour to the country.
As a party, our choice of the next Senate President should be informed by the need for National Unity More than who voted for the party.
The former Abia State governor also said that he discussed the stability of the ruling party with the President and noted that he will abide by the decision of the party leadership, favourable or not.
Kalu said he suggested to the President to take over the position of the APC”s Board of Trustees (BoT) immediately after handing over to the President-elect later in the year
He noted that the ruling party was faced with serious crises ahead of the just concluded general elections adding that Buhari’s interventions saved the APC from going under
He 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.
According to him, “There’s one thing I suggested to the President that I did not tell you, people. I suggested to the President I said we cannot allow you to rest. I’m going to be consulting the party. 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 ANC so that the President will still be part of the conscience of the party so that 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.
“Me 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.”
