The Ekiti State government has turned down a request by the former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK), seeking to visit.
The government advised the former governor to “take his peace advocacy 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 is acting as the Chairman, Advisory Board for the National Movement for Re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari. He has embarked on a tour of the South West ostensibly to advocate peace, fairness and unity of the country with a view to rallying support for the President’s second term bid in 2019.
However, the Ekiti State government, in a statement issued on Saturday by the Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka, said 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 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 is 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 further: “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 a daily basis by armed 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.”
Meanwhile, Kalu has continued his campaign for Buhari’s second term bid, saying urging Nigerians to support the president in his quest to make the country better than he met it.
Kalu spoke recently at the palace of the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, during his advocacy visit to the South West Geo-political Zone of the country, saying the nation needs a visionary leader like Buhari.
He said: “President Buhari has done well and his achievements are there for everyone to see. As a businessman, I travel a lot and I can tell you that this government has rehabilitated many Federal roads. The man has done wonderfully well and we should all rally round him to do more for us and our nation.
“There is development in almost all parts of the country. Nigeria needs peace at this crucial time in our history. Those attacking the president should desist from their attitudes in the interest of peace.
“We need to build unity in Nigeria and this is a duty of all of us. No one in this world is perfect, so, the president is not perfect but we should all support him and join hands with him to move the country forward.
“This is a difficult time for Nigeria. Those condemning our president now have no genuine point. We should ignore them and focus on the unity of Nigeria. The president might have made mistakes but that cannot be enough to nail him. He is a human being like all of us,” he added.