The National chairman of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Chief Ken Gbalokoma, has chided former Abia State governor , Orji Uzor Kalu, for rating himself with the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and M.K.O. Abiola.
Mr. Gbalokoma said in a press statement in Abuja that Mr. Kalu has no basis for comparing himself with them because, while the duo are political icons in their own right, the former Abia governor was “a political liability and influence peddler.”
Mr. Gbalokoma advised credible Igbo leaders to spearhead the struggle for the Igbo presidency, cautioning that “leaving the advocacy to the likes of Kalu would obfuscate the dream of the South East.”
Arguing that Kalu had no presidential ambition, he added that the former governor was merely seeking relevance and credibility within the polity by declaring that he would contest, recalling that he had used his former position as PPA leader to trade the party’s cases for millions of dollars at the Kano and Zamfara governorship elections petitions tribunal.
He said Orji Kalu was only grandstanding as a presidential aspirant to draw public attention away from him as a suspect on corruption charges.
The PPA national chairman said he decided to raise alarm before his party would be used for trading, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to step up vigilance to stem the hijack of political parties by those determined to destroy democracy.
Noting that Mr. Kalu, in his eight years as Abia State governor, could not differentiate between his personal funds and the public treasury, the PPA national chairman wondered what manner of president Mr Kalu would make.
He blamed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) “for allowing Kalu a free reign in the political space due to lack of deligent prosecution.”
He said during his tenure as governor, Mr. Kalu failed to develop infrastructures in the state, yet left behind a debt of N27.3 billion.
He therefore, appealed to the EFCC to accelerate the trial of the former governor to ensure his immediate incarceration.
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