APC National Chairmanship: Consensus Not Decided In Buhari’s Bedroom – Senate Chief Whip

Senate Chief Whip and former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu Tuesday stated that the emergence of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was not a product of bedroom consensus.

He revealed that President Buhari effectively consulted the National Assembly and all the APC governors before he arrived at the decision, noting that it was part of the wisdom that solved the seeming logjam in the party.

Senator Kalu spoke at a press briefing on Tuesday in Abuja, saying, the decision did not only save money in the pockets of aspirants but stabilise the party which was very volatile at the time.

He said: “The President in his wisdom was able to solve the problem, do you know how much money was saved from the pockets of aspirants by that consensus?

“The consensus was not just taken in the President’s bedroom, the President consulted the governors; he consulted the leadership of the National Assembly which I was one of them and he consulted other stakeholders of the party, the youths and all the rest of them and the aspirants themselves.”

Kalu who represents Abia North Senatorial district said, the consensus arrangement disappointed journalists and opposition parties who were looking forward to celebrating the APC crisis at Eagle square.

“So I don’t see any other thing that can be better than that.

“I know people like you journalists you were already celebrating that we were going to fight at the eagle square and we did not fight and it came out successfully.

“I want to use this opportunity again to congratulate the president for the able way he solved the problem. Most of us like Abdullahi Adamu, he was my colleague in 1999 and he was also our colleague here in the senate, so I think he will play a fatherly role both to the former governors and the present governors.

“We needed somebody that has the figure of the President in the party. We are very happy with that decision.

The lawmaker disagreed with some people who viewed the emergence of Adamu as an imposition but described the development as a “democratic agreement”, insisting that there was consultation at all levels of the party.

Speaking on his presidential ambition ahead of the 2023 general election, Kalu recalled saying that, “if it is zoned to the South-East”, he was already a candidate.

“I had told Nigerians that if this thing is zoned to the South East, I am already a candidate, but how do you become a candidate? with the proviso that they should zone it to South-East and micro-zone it even to my village if it is possible.

“I am not desperate, but I am anxious to change the living standards of Nigeria and the economy for it to do better”, he said.