Kogi guber poll: Kalu wants Audu’s son as new candidate

.. Extols late Tor Tiv’s virtues

FORMER governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, has appealed to the lead­ership of the All Progres­sives Congress (APC), its National Executive Com­mittee (NEC), President Muhammadu Buhari and National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to replace the late Prince Abubakar Audu with his son, Mohammed, in the upcoming governor­ship election in Kogi State.

The late Audu was the party’s governorship candi­date in last Saturday’s elec­tion. Audu died on Sunday when the Independent Na­tional Electoral Commis­sion (INEC) declared the election inconclusive even though he led his opponent, Governor Idris Wada with over 41,000 votes.

The eminent business mogul, who made the ap­peal yesterday from Lon­don, where he is attending a Commonwealth confer­ence on business, said it would be a befitting tribute to the memory of the Prince of Lokoja.

He said: “Mohammed’s candidacy is the only way to immortalise his father’s name in acknowledgement of his innumerable contri­butions to the transforma­tion of the APC and the development of Kogi State.

“Substituting Abubakar Audu with Mohammed will foreclose any intra-party squabbles that could arise following fresh primaries as planned by the party. Mohammed is eminently qualified to assume this arduous role. He should be given pre-eminence con­sidering the circumstance of his father’s death at the weekend in Lokoja.”

In a release signed by his media adviser, Mr. Ebere Wabara, the former gover­nor also pleaded with other APC prospective aspirants and all party stakehold­ers to rally round the late politician’s son as a way of honouring his father, point­ing out that the Abubakar Audu he knew would have supported this kind of in­tervention had events been otherwise.

Also, Kalu has de­scribed the late Tor Tiv, Dr. Alfred Torkula IV as a peace-loving monarch whose era will not be eas­ily forgotten in the history of Benue State.

He noted that the late first-class traditional ruler contributed to the socio-political development of Nigeria through his coun­sel on national unity.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Prince Kunle Oyewumi, Kalu said: “The demise of the Tor Tiv is painful and disheartening considering the fact that he died when his vast wealth of wisdom was needed in Benue State and Nigeria as a whole. He was humble, humane, forthright and selfless. The late Tiv monarch used his resources to improve the well being of his people and was committed to a fair society. During his era, Benue witnessed unprec­edented development in all ramifications. May God grant the Tiv monarch, a blissful rest,” Kalu said.

AGENDA for New Nigeria (ANN), a watchdog and non-profit making organisation has described as both defeatist and poorly conceived, attempts by some people to slander the person and office of the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mrs. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko.

Describing the development as informed by an insensate and insensitive local politics of gender, ethnicity and religion, President of the organisation, Dr. Sam Abubakar said the torrent of attacks against the ITF DG is a reflection of the poor mentality of underdevelopment and “na we get am” psychology of her attackers.

A series of sponsored articles have been flying around lately, attacking both the person and office of the DG over alleged corruption in the region of billions.

But Abubakar, who claimed to have been com­pelled to react to the development for factors of truth and reason about the leadership of Chukkas- Onaeko at ITF said, “It is only a people, who are averse to change and determined to retain a stinking status quo of squalor and underdevelopment who would go all out against an otherwise innocent, in­novative and hard working woman.”