Senate Presidency: I Will Run Joint Ticket With Yari, Says Kalu 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said talks are at an advanced stage between him and former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, to contest the 10th Senate Presidency on a joint ticket.

Kalu, who disclosed this in an interview with journalists at the National Assembly, also asked President Bola Tinubu to scrap the Niger Delta Ministry because it has outlived its usefulness.

The former governor of Abia State explained that Yari and himself were enjoying the support of their colleagues and other sponsors within and outside the Senate Chamber to make their ambition become a reality.

He said: “I cannot step down for anybody. I’m contesting the Senate Presidency but we are talking with Senators-elect Abdulaziz Yari on the possibility of a joint ticket and talks has reached an advanced stage on the issue.

“Our group and his group are talking and we are in intimate partnership and talks are ongoing. No zone can single-handedly produce a Senate President just as no single zone can single-handedly produce the President of Nigeria.

“We have a united partnership with Senator-elect Yari that will work for Nigeria.

“In the coming days and weeks, those partnership will be unveiled. We have not decided on who will be Senate President and who will be deputy.”

On the issue of the Niger Delta Ministry, Kalu said: “Some of the ministries and federal agencies are no longer viable. An example is the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs

“The Niger Delta Development Commission and the North East Development Commission can be reporting directly to the Presidency. 

“The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs should be scrapped and NDDC should be repositioned.”