…Say Senate Chief Whip has clinical understanding of upper chamber
By Daniel Kanu
The leadership of the National Assembly Legislative Aide Publishers Forum (NASSLAPF) has described the Chief Whip of the Senate, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, as the man with the clinical understanding of the workings of the Nigerian Senate with the needed wits to tackle any legislative challenge when elected as the next Senate President in the 10th Assembly.
According to them, Nigeria does not need a Senate President that would reduce the prestige of the Nigerian Senate to mere pedestrian business.
The group, which made this known in a statement signed by Mr Benjamin Atu, the media aide to Senator Francis Alimikhena, and publisher of NewsBreakInternational, said that other aspirants know Kalu is the best man for the job as a stabilizing figure.
“Senator Kalu’s feat is bold and exceptional; from business to governance and politics. As a governor, he made sweeping reforms that to date others are still building on as a promoter of inclusive politics,” the group said.
The Legislative Aide Publishers Forum described the Chief Whip of the Senate as the most prepared for the job with a ready template for Nigeria to wean itself from the debilitating dependence on oil through appropriate legislative measures.
“He is also the most qualified with mild manners that can collaborate intellectually in establishing a harmonious relationship between the executive and the legislature. He has a clear-cut clinical knowledge of how to harmonize interest in ensuring a frictionless and tensionless Senate while pursuing the interest of the public,” the group said.
“He represents a unifying figure in our quest for nationhood and qualitative leadership. Even those contesting against him have admitted to his ingenuity in tackling serious national issues of urgent public importance that has ranked him above them.
“Trust and confidence in the integrity of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has endeared him to other Senators as a huge social capital that will stabilize the erosion of distrust that always exist between leaders and the led,” the group noted.
They also described Senator Kalu as a forthright and vibrant parliamentarian, saying that under his leadership, Nigeria would witness an unrestrained and cultured Senate that would be driven by the rule of law without any desire to run a personalize or a privatized Senate.