By Femi Odere
Senator-elect Orji Uzor Kalu is such an interesting character.
It’s interesting enough that he still wants to be the Senate President of the 10th National Assembly when the consensus among the Nigerian public is that he cannot, and should not, reap where he did not sow.
And more than enough evidence of this parable of the ‘non-sower’ had been articulated on several occasions that we need not be detained by it anymore.
After going underground for some time in this apparently hopeless bid for the number three seat, because he has been reactivated by the disbanded, but still potent Buhari cabal, that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, POFREN, would not be sworn-in, for the court would sack his Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, VPFREN, last Friday, he has come out swinging again, as it dawned on him/them that the landmine they planted didn’t detonate after all.
Kalu has been reported to be talking with Abdulaziz Yari, also a former governor from Zamfara State, who’s also in the running for the Senate Presidency.
Hear the senator-elect from Igbere in Abia State, “I cannot step down for anybody. We are talking with Yari. Our group and his people are talking. We are in intimate partnership and talking to make sure our group and his people are talking…No one zone can produce a president for Nigeria.”
He went on, “It’s the same thing for Senate President. What we are trying to play with Senator Yari is a united partnership that works for Nigeria. You will see what the partnership looks like. We are in serious talks. Yes, I cannot deny it. Yari is a friend of mine and I’m his friend, and we decided to talk together.
“We have been talking for the past four weeks and the talks will be unveiled by our sponsors.”
The above statement from Senator-elect Orji Uzor Kalu is quite revealing. The revelation here is in what has not been said because Kalu is a master of subterfuge.
Some keywords and phrases need to be laid bare here for him to know that his ostrich is only fooling itself by burying its head in the sand.
When he said that “Our group and his people are talking,” the fact remains that Yari and Kalu’s groups are two sides of the same coin.
That Kalu said they are in an “intimate partnership” is a true statement, except that he didn’t reveal what kind of partnership. Kalu and Yari are the arrowheads of the Senate Instability Group, SIG. You will not be faulted if you also call them the Saraki 2.0 Group.
The vast majority of the senators-elect, who will vote for Akpabio as the next Senate President have identified themselves as the “Stability Group.”
And rightly and justifiably named.
Kalu’s statement that “No one zone can produce a president for Nigeria” is simply glib talk. It’s the kind of talk you hear at Aba market.
We should continue to thank God for little mercies that Kalu admitted that they have “sponsors.”
As a master of subterfuge, he stopped short of telling Nigerians who these “sponsors” are. These sponsors are the cabals, who never wanted the now POFREN to get the party’s ticket in the presidential primary, not to talk of succeeding in winning the election.
The head honcho and public face of these sponsors is Senate President Ahmed Lawan.
What Kalu is also not saying about this “intimate partnership” is that Yari would step down for him on the day of the National Assembly election, because Nigerians have made it abundantly clear that they want a Christian to occupy the number three seat.
By the way, Kalu also said that “few people sitting somewhere and making decisions on who becomes the Senate President is no longer functional.”
With the above statement, the POFREN, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the more than 70 senators-elect who would vote for Akpabio as their Senate President are the “few people.” This is another glib talk you hear at Alaba market.
We wonder what happened to that statement of his when he first announced his ambition for Senate President, when he said that how much traction his ambition gets would depend on what now President Tinubu wants.
We will continue to “siddon look” and watch the two bosom friends – Kalu and Yari – burn themselves out in their futile attempts for the Senate President.
For Kalu, he thinks that the Senate is a trading post.
Yari still doesn’t know what the questions are when it comes to what’s expected of this coming Senate, let alone having answers.
The next red chamber is akin to the head of the elephant a child dare not carry, because this new Chief of State would be like no other.
Only the deep can call to the deep in this new dawn.
And that’s why Senator-elect Godswill Obot Akpabio fits the Senate President bill.
This is why Kalu’s alignment is actually a misalignment.
•Odere is the Convener, The Godswill Project, TGP.
