2019: Buhari not interested in automatic ticket, says Kalu

Former Abia State Governor Dr Orji Kalu yesterday said President Muhammadu Buhari is not interested in automatic ticket for the 2019 presidential election because he would want other candidates to explore democratic process to test their popularity.

Speaking in an interview at a private wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, Kalu backed others calling on Buhari to go for primaries ahead of the elections.

He said: “Buhari himself is not even looking for automatic ticket. Buhari is a man that is very fair and free to what he does. And his feeling is that if any candidate is willing to contest against him, he should come at the Eagle Square.”

Supporting calls for primaries, the former governor stressed: “The contest should be thrown open. There would be no rancour. We are in democracy and I would vote for the President.

“I’ve said it times without number that President needs to consolidate on his achievements because the President is very popular.

“He is still the only person carrying 12 million votes in his back. His tenure has been besieged by illness. So the President genuinely deserves second tenure.

“We are not afraid of anybody who wants to contest against the president.”

Reacting to the possibility of PDP returning to power, Kalu stated: “How can they bounce back when treasury was looted? How can they bounce back when the international community doesn’t see anything good in them?

“How can they bounce back when we gave them our treasury, they opened and looted it.

“We would call names if they want us to call names in future. All the world powers knew what happened and this is why they tactically insisted that PDP must leave power.

“PDP committed what was very shameful to be seen in a democratic process. There is no system that is without corruption but going to loot is an affront to Nigerian people.”

He was however reluctant to comment on the resignation of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), saying, if he had the opportunity of advising him, he would have asked him to remain to rebuild the APC.

According to him: “To be honest with you, Atiku was my boss and he is still my boss. I hardly don’t want to discuss Atiku Abubakar. You know he is very close to me.

“The question you are asking me is a lot of task but I wish him well. If I was to advise him before he leaves, I would say, ‘don’t leave. Let us build a large team together.’

“If he wants to contest against the President, it would be open at the Eagle Square. If he wins, we would support him.”