The planned visit of former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu,
to Ekiti State has been rejected by the State Government, telling the
former governor to “take his advocacy for peace to other parts of the
country where security of lives and properties of Nigerians is under
threat, not Ekiti State that even the Police adjudged as the most
peaceful State in the country.”
Kalu, who is acting as the Chairman, Advisory Board for the National
Movement for Re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, has embarked
on tour of the South-West purportedly to advocate for peace, fairness
and unity of the country with a view to rallying support for the
President’s second term bid in 2019.
However, Ekiti State Government said in a statement on Saturday by the Special Assistant to Governor Ayodele Fayose on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, that “There is no threat
to peace and unity of Nigeria from Ekiti State for anyone, including
Orji Kalu, to address. Therefore, he should not expect to be welcomed
to any palace in Ekiti State.”
The government urged traditional rulers in the state to ignore the
former Abia governor, saying; “it is an insult on the collective
sensibilities of Ekiti people, whose only benefit from the government
of President Buhari is hardship occasioned by the government’s
cluelessness for anyone to hide under advocacy for peace to canvass
support for the President.”
The government said it was unspeakable that because of his EFCC case,
Orji Kalu saddled himself with the task of doing image laundering for
a President whose government is inflicting sufferings on Nigerians.
The statement reads in part; “If he has sold his own conscience to the
agenda of selling an already rejected product to Nigerians, we in
Ekiti State have not, and we are telling him categorically that such
advocacy is not welcome in our state.
“He should rather take his peace and unity advocacy to his own state,
where he is already rejected and other states where Nigerians are
being killed on daily basis by bandits.
“It is also ridiculous that instead of joining Nigerians to tell the
President the truth about the state of affairs in the country, Kalu is
castigating Nigerians that have summoned courage to speak out against
the President through letters and public comments.”
