Frontline Ibo leader and a former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said he gave former President, Olusegun Obasanjo N100m to run his campaign in 1999.
According to Kalu, he gave another N100m to the Peoples Democratic Party before the 1999 elections.
Kalu said this on a Kaduna-based Liberty FM on Saturday as ‘Guest of the Week’.
He said, “I made millions before joining politics. I was doing business between Maiduguri and the East. I carried fish from Maiduguri to the East and palm oil from the East to Maiduguri. So, I had money and invested so much in the PDP.
“If the party is a company, I would have been a major shareholder. I and (Saminu) Turaki spent more on the party than any other Nigerian. How much did (President Goodluck) Jonathan have before he became the President? I was the first to give the party N100m to register. I was also the first to give Obasanjo N100m to campaign during the 1999 election.”
On while he’s not in good terms with Obasanjo, OUK said things fell apart between him and the former leader when he discovered that Obasanjo was deceiving Nigerians.
His words, “I fell apart with Obasanjo on the issue of third term. He wanted to be a life President. Nobody can tell me that Obasanjo was not interested in third term. Huge money was involved in the project. Two senators from my state came with the money and I asked them to return it.
“It was the then President of America, George Bush, who genuinely derailed the third term agenda. I told Bush about it and that is why Obasanjo hates me. Bush told him that it was not possible in a constitutional democracy. I tried to avoid him (Obasanjo) at public functions.”
On the 2015 election, Kalu said, “People should stop imposing the President on Nigerians. Let the people choose their President.
“Igbos are going to vote for an Igbo man in 2015. Jonathan has the constitutional right to run but he is not an Igbo man. There are many qualified Igbo men. I am not saying I’m running for President now but there are possibilities that other Igbo men are thinking about that. Northerners should support us for the presidency in 2015 because we supported (Shehu) Shagari. We supported (Umaru) Yar’Adau, (Yakubu) Gowon and Tafawa Balewa,” Kalu added.
On why he returned to PDP, Kalu said he was back to give the party a second chance and to see if he could make positive changes in the party.
Airing his own view on the state of emergency declared by the President on three North-East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, Kalu said the declaration was nothing but a movement of troops from one place to another, stressing that the security chiefs did not advise the President properly.
The former governor said, “I am for amnesty. The President should have allowed the amnesty committee at least three months. He shouldn’t have made any announcement. There is nothing like state of emergency but just a movement of troops. Jonathan is not that wicked to be playing politics with human lives. Let’s remove politics or 2015 from this thing.”
In a swift reaction, Obasanjo’s Media Assistant, Vitalis Ortese, said the former President would not join issues with “Kalu who has credibility and integrity deficit.”
He said, “This is a man who is known to have stuffed paper as money in a bag and donated it at a public function in Maiduguri. He has no credibility and integrity. So, we will not like to join issues with him.
“He is only trying to cover his lack of credibility by seeking to join issues with someone, who clearly is not in his level or class. He is only seeking relevance. Good luck to him.”
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