The Senator representing Abia North Senatorial district in the national assembly and Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu said he fulfilled all protocols before seeing the leader of IPOB on Monday, November 29th 2021.
Senator Kalu in his Facebook post said, “It has come to my notice, the statement issued by one of the counsels to Maazi Nnamdi Kanu, Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, in which I am very disappointed in him.
He rightly acknowledged that I was scheduled to visit his client and at the same time, claimed that I violated the guidelines stipulated for visiting his client. According to him, he was supposed to be present at the 2pm meeting on Monday”.
The Senate Chief Whip added that several people, including Barrister Ejiofor, have tried to misinterpret and misinform the public about his visit to (his) brother, Nnamdi. His words, “I also read a report stating that I took pictures with Nnamdi and also tweeted same on my Twitter account”.
Orji words read in parts “For the records, the Department of State Services (DSS) did not break any protocol during my visit, as I fulfilled all the requirements expected of me before I saw Nnamdi. The DSS affirmed that I cannot see Nnamdi without the application of his lawyers which I diligently did”.
The former governor of Abia state said probably, Barrister Ejiofor may have expected him to arrive at 4pm for a scheduled 2pm visit. He continued “What many people refer to as “African time” is not my style. I strictly keep to time and it is a discipline I have upheld since my childhood. I arrived the DSS headquarters at 1:50 PM ; went through the necessary protocols and met Nnamdi at 2:17 PM. I stayed with him until 2: 57 PM. Even though he asked that I stayed longer but I had to leave because of other engagements”.
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu added that during his visit to Nnamdi, he did not even take his mobile phone along and no photograph was taken. “The photograph people are circulating was the one I took with him when I visited him at the Nigerian Correctional Service Medial Security Custodial Centre, Kuje in 2016 and later, his parents in 2017. My Twitter account has also been inactive”.
Orji stated that he does not also know if Barrister Ejiofor is aware that Nnamdi is not under compulsion to see anyone, stressing that “if Nnamdi Kanu didn’t want to see him (Orji) he could have as well declined, but he was glad to see me and also expressed deep appreciations.
The Abia North senator said Ejiofor’s anger seems to be borne out of vexation of not being around to listen to their conversations and sounds like someone who is a beneficiary of the crisis. “People like him may not see the economic damage the Southeast is experiencing because of the weekly sit-at-home”. He does not understand that people can protest in peace without disrupting economic activities and going violent. He does not understand that there are people whose livelihood solely depends on daily hustle. If you have people’s interest at heart, you should as well consider their security, economic prosperity and peaceful livelihood”.
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu therefore called on Ejiofor to be patriotic, rise above primordial and pecuniary interest and put the interest of the people of the Southeast and the country first.
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu
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