By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA –
A founding chieftain of the All Progressives
Congress APC in Abia state, Prince Paul Ikonne has cautioned a former governor
of the state, Orji Uzor Kalu to avoid comments that could portray the party as
incapable of keeping to its words. Ikonne was speaking against the backdrop of
the former governor’s declaration that ailing President Muhammadu Buhari would
return before June 12, urging him to refrain from acting as the president’s
unofficial spokesman.
“Last time, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu told Nigerians that
President Buhari would return soon and he is not the spokesman of the
President.
Till now, the President is yet to
return. He should keep quiet and learn to live like an elder statesman, not
trying to take the job of the president’s spokesmen”, he said. Speaking with
journalists Thursday in Abuja, Ikonne who was a governorship candidate of the
defunct Action Congress of Nigeria ACN, said 95 percent of the people of Abia
are not happy with the way Kalu governed Abia for eight years. “I plead with
him not to scare people away from joining the party because we need a strong
party in the state.
The real voters are the masses and
if they are scared that the deception we witnessed in the past would also be
associated with the APC in the state, then they will not come in”, he stated.
Ikonne advised the former governor not scare members of the party in Abia “with
his style of leadership because we need a strong APC in Abia state.” “If Abia
is backward, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu laid the foundation and has taken Abia 16 years
backwards.
He laid a very wrong foundation for Abia state
as such, he should not be making statements that are false. “My advice to him
will be to keep quiet, be in a sober mood, go in for retreat, and try as much
as he can to build a path of peace. He should embark on a mission to reconcile
everybody. Let him make peace with his enemies so that we can attract more
people to the party”, he said. On the planned boycott of the Anambra
governorship election by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ikonne said
Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the group, was only expressing his personal views.
“That is his personal opinion
because there will be an election in Anambra state. Nnamdi Kanu is a young man
and I advise him, that Ojukwu started this and regretted, a second one is not
necessary,” he said. “That is the stand of every Igbo person. If you say there
would be no election in Anambra, then you are calling for a military
administrator. So, the call for a boycott of Anambra election is simply a
display of ignorance.”
Vanguard News
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