Why Orji Uzor Kalu is Desperate -Senator Emma Nwaka, chairman of Abia State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)


What is the controversy between the Abia PDP Chapter, and the former governor of Abia state? What exactly is the problem?

Well, I do not see any controversy at all. The truth of the matter is that former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu, is not a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of which I am the state chairman. I know that he made efforts but unfortunately for him, he met the very wrong people; people who have already resigned from the party, and they said they issued a card to him. It is unfortunate because I believe they have duped him. Who knows how much he gave to them because I just noticed some desperation on his part. And it makes you wonder why any person should be desperate. I have heard people talk about freedom of association, I begin to wonder whether we understand what it is all about. It is about two people. Or more than two people agreeing to come together. It is not about somebody from outside insisting you must be my wife, I must be your boyfriend, I must come into your house. It doesn’t work that way. You have to bring an application. I was in the church this morning, Roman Catholic Church, and after normal service, and it was time for holy sacrament, they said if you were not of Roman Catholic faith you could not partake of it. It is also like that in a political party because if you even go through a section of the constitution that talks about freedom of association, you will see clearly where it talked about political parties, where it said that even INEC can use conditions. So it is not a free party, it is not something you just walk in any how. Even the PDP makes it quite clear that at the ward level, you can be rejected. So it is not an automatic thing. We have to look at your antecedent, we have to find out whether your mind is with us because you are talking about a people who have a common agenda working together to actualize it. You are coming into our house, and already you are abusing the leader of the party who is the state governor. You said the party chairman can go to blazes. You call us all sorts of names you say you want to come and take over the party. Can’t you smell trouble? So if we don’t want such a person into our party, how can anybody blame us

It seems you don’t believe that the more the merrier

I have told you already. He wants to come back, and from outside, he is abusing everyone of us inside. The retired Generals in the party, the elders of the party-he is abusing every person, he is abusing the leader of the party. If you want to marry a wife and her first step is already abusing your mother, your father, you have to be careful; you can’t bring such a person into your house because that is disaster foretold. So if you can stop it, why not? We have this strong feeling that his PPA is still waxing strong, and that he is a member of PPA, and that all he wants to do is come and cause confusion in PDP and while we are struggling with that, they will then use their PPA to do whatsoever they want to do. So we are very conscious of that. The day he said he joined the PDP, the man who was there welcoming him, Sam Nkire, is the National Chairman of the PPA. So if you are coming into PDP, and you have chairman of your party (PPA) welcoming you into PDP, something is wrong. Can’t you see the contradiction? Can’t you see there is something awful he has in mind? At times he says he built this house, that is the PDP, for Christ sake, if you marry a woman, if you marry somebody, and somewhere along the line you separate, even when you come back there must be conditions. You don’t just come back, and say this is my wife. If you were a wife beater, if you don’t provide for your wife, if you did not do what you are supposed to do to consummate a marriage, for Christ’s sake, you don’t just walk back and say you are taking her back. We are talking about a political party, you see, PDP is a movement not just a political party. It is a movement and if it is moving and you stand in the way, it has a way of crushing you and moving on; not like PPA where a family calls the shot. No! Everybody in PDP is somebody. Everybody’s vote counts, and we consult, we reach consensus before we do anything in PDP. So a situation where you walk away and think you can just walk in like that, I mean, it doesn’t work.

Those that registered him, were members of your party?
Yes, they were; but they resigned. They went to the local government party chairman at Bende local government, that was on the 10th of January to say they were no more with the PDP. You know, God has His own way of doing things. At times, I hear people say it is not possible that the entire executive can resign. But they don’t know anything about mystery. For instance, when Abacha was alive, we had all the political parties in Nigeria saying he was their presidential candidate. What was wrong about that? Even in Abia state here, I had the Executive members of APGA declare for PDP. I received them here, the entire executive. Are they not coming from one party to another? So, if you decide you want to leave our party, there is free entry, there is free exit, we don’t have to question you why you are going, but the important thing is that they moved, and before moving, they returned party membership registers to Chief Ihendu who is Chairman of the party at Bende, Orji is from Bende. So they returned the registers to him. In fact I had the registers here, the day I addressed a press conference, I brought out the registers because after returning the registers to him, it was brought to me, and we searched and we didn’t see his name there. So if he is carrying our card, he is an imposter, we don’t know where he got the card from. If you are not in the register, you are not a member of our party. Assuming tomorrow we want to hold primary, and you just brandish a card, and say you are of the PDP, it is like INEC register, you may have a card, but during the voting time, they have to look through the register, if your name is not there, you cannot vote. They can even arrest you to find out how you got the card.

Why do you think he wants to come back to the party?
I am not a mind reader. What we know clearly is that he still belongs to PPA. And then, for us why we say no is that he is so abusive, even from outside. Every person knows he owns a newspaper, and you can see all the columnists in there falling over themselves just to support him as if I can just walk in and say I want to be made an Editor and I will be made an editor immediately. There are rules, there are things you have to do to become a member. If I quit as editor, I cannot walk in and force myself again on the publication.
It won’t work. That is the point I am making. You are coming from outside, but you keep abusing all of us, calling us rouges, all of us are not doing well-you are the only one. And we are talking about a political party. In fact one of his writers even wrote, and called him the Chief of Abia state. I hope God will forgive him.
Now, I hear three alleged reasons why he wants to come back to the PDP. Number one is that he wants to be a Senator, number two is that he wants to install a successor to the current governor in 2015. Number three is that he is desirous of a President of Igbo extraction.
Whatever his ambitions are, as far as we are concerned, we don’t care. He said he is a wonderful politician, he floated his PPA, so he can still use that platform to achieve whatever he wants to achieve. And you know he went on to establish what he calls Njiko Igbo and then said he is apolitical. It tells you something about his character-lack of consistency, running with the hare and chasing with the dog all at the same time. It is a huge problem. We don’t want such a person in our political party. And you know, it is not just people from other local governments, even from his local governments. I don’t know whether you saw the communiqué signed by everybody who is somebody from Bende that they do not want him in PDP. Are you going to impose yourself on us? And then if he wants to be President, he can still run from his party, afterall in 2011 he wanted to go to the Senate and he ran against Senator Uche Chukwumerije who beat him fair and square. So if he wants to be president, let him come from his party, PPA. If he wants to join the PDP, he has to convince us. But that is not even thinkable anymore because it is already engraved in the minds of the people that all he is coming to do in PDP is to cause trouble, and we don’t want trouble. When he was there piloting the affairs of PDP, PDP was divided. We had the Abuja politicians, and Umuahia politicians. But today, given the nature of Governor T.A Orji, having regard for every human being. Every person in the eyes of Governor T.A Orji is somebody. He gives you your due respect, that is why we have this harmony not just in the executive branch, but also in the party because he is the leader of the party. We have a situation where for you to become somebody, even vie for party office, you don’t give money to any person and that is the truth. And we don’t take you to any shrine. Let me tell you, this is a Christian state.
Were those things happening before?

Of course. I am sure you have heard about Okija. Those things were happening. And Abians have said, enough, no more. And there is this fear that given this antecedent, if Orji Uzor Kalu comes back there is the possibility of dragging us back, to Egypt. I tell you, if we make the mistake of bringing him back to PDP those who are our members, and even non-card carrying members of the society will run away from PDP. We don’t want that. We want to build PDP.
Are they afraid of him?

They are not afraid of him. They do not want anything to do with idolatory. That is the issue. Didn’t he run, didn’t he present a candidate for governorship in 2011? So no person is afraid of him. He knows. I heard him say that he brought me into PDP but what he forgot to tell them is that I was in the Senate when he was a member of House of Representatives. So who is leading who?

He reels out what he did for Governor T.A. Orji. Why does he not reel out what T.A. Orji did for him? He should tell the public what the governor did for him as INEC’s Administrative Secretary in Enugu. He should also tell the world why the EFCC detained T.A. Orji. Where did Governor T.A. Orji go wrong with him? Where? It is simple. The man refused to hand over Abia to him. Nothing more.

Now, one of the things he said in a recent interview with a national paper is that the former President, General Obasanjo did not want the present governor of Abia state to be governor. And that Obasanjo had called him to bring his younger brother who was in the House of Representatives to be the governor?

Now le me ask; if he decides to go to the new party, APC, doesn’t that pose a threat to the PDP in the state?
Talking about APC, I pity them. We are not against competition. Let them come let us compete. Not just talking about Abia state, I know that at the federal level, come 2015, PDP will retain power. You see, these people are like a house built on sandy foundation, it will soon collapse. Already, they have made it clear to us that they are not going to practice democracy in that party because already you know that Muhammed Buhari will be the presidential candidate. And then you know that Bola Tinubu will be his running mate then what is there for other people? All others will just be there to go and canonize them. When it comes to that, every person will begin to fight. So that party is not going to stand the test of time. I have forgotten who exactly, but a member of the so-called party I don’t know why I even call it party because they have not met the conditions for registration, a member of the party that may come to be said that some of them have plan B. that is exactly what I am telling you that it is going to collapse. And talking about not allowing any person to come, you know that they allowed ANPP reluctantly to be part of this proposed marriage. Buhari did not want them. Then talking of APGA, you know that our brother Rochas is just there on his own. PDP owns Imo state; we have majority of the people in the House of Assembly, don’t mind that they have to say they are APGA. At times, it is good so that you, don’t have anarchy. You know lets just continue. But whether he can bribe them into the so called mega party is another kettle of fish entirely. I don’t see him dragging them. In any case, people like Uche Ekwunife, Chris Anyanwu and the rest have said that they don’t know what he is talking about. So the thing will just collapse before it gets on. And I know that Orji Uzor Kalu would not want to be there. My advice to him is to continue with his PPA. Since he said that he is the be that all and end all in PDP, let him replicate it in PPA, and make it a strong national party. Why is he running back? Does it mean he can only build one house? Let him build another one and make it as beautiful as the other one. Particularly, he said he has all the connections, he has the resources, we are happy for him, but let him stay there and fight us, let him not come inside and start a fight. Because even in the constitution of the PDP, there are things you cannot do like criticize the party any how when we have channels. Even in a home; there is nothing strange about it, you don’t talk to your father any how. You don’t talk to your mother any how. You must talk to them respectfully. You don’t have to go and wash your dirty linen outside assuming you have any. That is the man you want us to admit into our party? No way!




I have heard some people talk about the APC and one of the Southeast governors. I have heard some people say that it is a total betrayal of the Igbo cause, a total betrayal of the symbol of APGA. The symbol of APGA, of course, we are talking about the late Ikemba.




Onyeaghala Nwannaya, you know that is their motto.




And that Ojukwu took APGA as an Igbo party, something for the kindreds. Even though some governors are of the PDP, they had the same cause, the same motive. Like in 2011, they decided that everybody would support the PDP presidential candidate that no true Igbo son should go to any other party. Now Imo state governor joining the APC, they think it is the total betrayal of the Igbo spirit. What is your opinion?




I don’t want to discuss Ojukwu and APGA or even Rochas. But I agree with you that this is a betrayal of the Igbo cause if what you want is to produce a president of Igbo extraction. Because as I told you, we already know the presidential candidate of APC is from the North, Buhari, and we know that the Vice President is coming from the South west, Bola Tinubu. Where does that leave the Igboman? No where! This our party, PDP belongs to Ndigbo.




Jonathan is Ijaw, but he is Igbo. He has shown it in different ways. Come back to look at it, look at the important positions we are holding under the PDP, Chief of Army Staff, until recently, Comptroller-General of Immigration, the Finance Minister, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Stock Exchange, you have AMCON, aviation Health, Stock Exchange, Due Process, Debt Management Office, DMO. Jonathan gave Ojukwu a state burial, a burial fit for a president. Before 2015, we’ll get the second Niger Bridge. He completed the Onitsha Dry Port. And still counting. The APC cannot give it to you. Whether it is Codein or APC. I don’t know, but they cannot give it to you. If they have stopped using codeine to cure malaria and all that, I don’t know why they are prescribing APC to us, APC is outdated also (laughter). We are moving forward not APC. PDP is the place to be for Igbo, for Nigeria. This is the longest period we have had democracy in Nigeria and that is under PDP. Occasionally, we have our misunderstanding, conflict is part of life. The important thing is your ability to overcome. PDP will overcome, it will overcome APC.




You continually said that the governor has been a PDP governor for just two years. But the argument has been that he has been a governor for six years.




You see when he was governor for first term, he was under PPA. And you know what it is like when your platform is privately owned. You will expect that most things will be done to feather the nest of the owners. But here in PDP, as I told you, it is like a PLC. Every person has an interest here. And then again, you are dealing with a man who, for the four years he was governor under the platform of the PPA, was always feeling so bad that he was not given a free hand to really deliver the dividends of democracy to Ndi Abia. So now that he is here, one thing we have all guaranteed him is peace of mind. And no person tells him to bring government resources so that a few will just sit down and share. We know that what will carry us to 2015, and give us victory, are the legacies he is leaving behind. And he is leaving so many of them. For him to have done in two years more than he did under PPA tells a lot of story. And just imagine he has two more years to go. I leave it to you to imagine what Abia will become by 2015. whether it is APC or Codeine or whatever, no party can take Abia away from the PDP. No party.

He must be the first convict to be rejected in the pdp party, they are not fond of turning a convict away its. We all know to one of the pdp requirement

1, you have to be potential criminal

2, you have to be a convicted fellow

3, you have to be an ex convict

And it goes on an on like that even you have to be a suspected murderer.