…Backs Probe of Dangote’s Corruption Claims
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has delivered a scathing rebuttal to claims by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will lose the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the opposition lacks the structure, momentum, and capacity to challenge the President.
Reacting on Tuesday to Abaribe’s comments on Channels Television’s Politics Today—where the Abia South senator argued that Tinubu “never won” the 2023 election and would be rejected by Nigerians in 2027 due to economic hardship—Kalu described the position as disconnected from political reality.
“I just want to briefly address what my brother Abaribe said on Channels TV that President Tinubu has already failed the election on arrival. I don’t think so,” Kalu said.
“I have not seen the momentum opposition will be able to challenge him. The election is Tinubu versus Tinubu, and that is it. That is the truth. Whether you like it or not, I’m a politician of 30-something years and I know how we play it,” he added.
The Abia North senator, a former Governor of Abia State and ex-Chief Whip of the 9th Senate, reminded Abaribe that both men served together in the 9th Senate and witnessed firsthand what he described as policy failures of previous administrations. According to Kalu, Tinubu’s economic direction marks a fundamental break from the past.
“We were both in the 9th Senate, we saw massively how things went. The difference between now and then is that President Tinubu is trying to build an economy that will not be based on free handouts, and we have never had it before.
“This is the first time a President will build an economy by every parameter,” he stated.
While acknowledging the economic hardship facing Nigerians, Kalu argued that the pain reflects the cost of rebuilding a system that was never truly sustainable.
“I know things are difficult. We had no economy before. President Tinubu is trying to rebuild. For the first time, a president is coming to build an economy that will be sustainable by every parameter,” he said.
“Before, we were building an economy where handouts were the order of the day. This is the first President to end the era of cheap money,” Kalu added.
Turning to corruption, the senator aligned himself with recent allegations made by Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, describing corruption as deeply entrenched in both the public and private sectors and calling for tougher laws to confront it.
“What the President of Dangote Group said about corruption—it’s endemic in us unless we bring a very hard law to deal with corruption,” Kalu said.
“A lot of money has been stolen here both by private sector people and public sector people. Nigeria is an avenue of stealing.”
He urged the Federal Government and anti-graft agencies to thoroughly investigate Dangote’s allegations against the Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ahmed Farouk, stressing that no official should be immune from scrutiny.
Dangote, in a petition dated December 16 and submitted through his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja (SAN), accused the NMDPRA boss of corruption and financial impropriety, demanding his arrest, investigation, and prosecution. The petition alleged that Farouk spent over $7 million—without evidence of lawful income—on the education of his four children in Switzerland over a six-year period. The petition was received by the ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu (SAN).
Kalu also linked Nigeria’s security challenges to economic collapse at the grassroots and a broader crisis of values.
“Security is breeding in our microeconomy. Because of insecurity, people cannot go to farm and produce the raw materials that sustain us as people,” he said.
“Nigeria and Nigerians, we are at war with ourselves… It’s not only the job of the President. It’s a war that we created by ourselves.”
On the judiciary, Kalu adopted a conciliatory tone despite recalling his own incarceration, insisting on respect for judicial authority.
“They put me in prison for doing nothing and I can never say that I have committed any offense,” he said.
“But I never discussed the judge that imprisoned me. I believe that the judiciary is supreme. Nigerian judiciary remains one of the best in the world, no matter how bad they may seem.”
The senator also advised President Tinubu to take decisive steps against the growing use of the US dollar within Nigeria’s domestic economy.
“I advise President Tinubu to pay less attention to people buying things with dollars. We should stop using dollars in our economy,” he said.
“If you have dollars, change it to Naira. Go and check what South Africans are doing, check what the Brazilians are doing.”
