Member representing Bende federal constituency of Abia State and spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Rep. Benjamin Kalu has said the presidential candidate of his party, the All Progressives Congress APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has the welfare of Igbo man at heart, calling on all sons and daughters of the region to support him win the Feb. 25 presidential election.
He said his support for Tinubu’s victory as a party man is not borne out of sentimental considerations but reality, stating that the GDP of an Igbo average Igbo man in Lagos has increased as a result of mechanisms Tinubu put in place while he was governor of the state.
Featuring on ABN TV’s current affairs programme, Political Perspective, the lawmaker said Tinubu’s innovations have raised so many millionaires of Igbo extraction in Lagos State in the area of commerce and industry.
Rep. Kalu also said Tinubu has an enviable track record of appointing Igbo persons into his cabinet while he was governor, one of whom has ascended the ladder to become the director of Budget Office, a department in the ministry of finance.
“An office as strategic as that, Mr. Ben Nwabueze cut his teeth as a member of Tinubu’s cabinet which has seen him where he is today, he didn’t give it to a Yoruba man, he didn’t give it to Hausa man, he called my brother, a sound mind, a God-fearing man to hold that position.
“He has ruggedly held that position for the benefit of Nigeria through thick and thin, who discovered him? Not Igbo man but Tinubu.
“The Igbo man holds one of the most important positions in this country and that is Ben Nwabueze, he runs the country’s budget, he decides what goes where, nominated, appointed, supported, showcased, started by Bola Ahmed Tinubu”, he stated.
While agreeing that the Igbo needs to be president of the country as well, Rep. Kalu said the region needs the support of other geopolitical zones as votes from South East alone cannot produce the country’s president.
According to him, without a structure that will embrace other regions, producing a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction will be difficult.
“Peter Obi is a good man, but you need more than a good man to be president, Peter Obi is educated, but you need more than an educated man to be president of Nigeria.
“I’m not talking about structure or no structure, how long has he built inter-regional politics? How much has he invested in making his name a household name in the hinterlands of the North, hinterlands of the Yoruba land, and other groups across Nigeria” referring to the presidential candidate of Labour Party who hails from the South East region.
While stating that Peter Obi has started a good step, he expressed doubt if the step is enough to produce the desired result in the upcoming election.
He called on the people of South East region to support Bola Tinubu to become president for the good of the region.