Anayo Ezugwu 
The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has said that the emergence of Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso as the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has changed the political calculations of the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking yesterday on Channel Television programme, Politics Today, Kalu said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would lose the presidential elections if they fail to present northis ern candidates. Kalu said: “Whether APC or PDP, the problem we have now is Kwankwaso because Kwankwaso is already a presidential candidate.
“That was what I saw when I pulled out of the presidential race because if they had given me the ticket as someone from the South- East, I would lose and that would not be good for us.
“Kwankwaso left PDP and went to NNPP and if APC or PDP give their ticket to southern candidates, Kwankwaso is already a president in waiting. So, Kwankwaso is the problem because if PDP gives a northern aspirant the ticket and APC goes south, it is over for APC. “Kwankwaso has changed the dynamics of the political calculation in 2023 and it is better for APC to go north as well.”
The former governor of Abia State reiterated his stand that if South-West and South-South cannot support the South-East, then power should remain in the north.
“If all the aspirants from the South-West and South-South cannot support their brothers from the South-East, it is only politically correct to support the North-East geopolitical zone, which to me northis the shortest route for the South-East geo-political zone to produce the president after their eight years instead of waiting for another 16 years.
“We don’t care where the president comes from but we care for those who have the capacity of giving good governance. If you can’t give it to us, we don’t care where it comes from.
What I’m telling you is the position of most Igbo people, some might disagree but most of them that know politic understand this because you cannot continue to let us vote for you and you don’t vote for us.
“What you will see in 2023 will be new Igbo thinking and the new Igbo thinking would be if you give me I will give you.
We have voted for President Obasanjo, we have voted for President Jonathan and we have voted for Vice President Osinbajo. So, they should find sincerity in their mind to vote for us,” he said.
