Supporters defy COVID-19 protocols to welcome Kalu home

Supporters of the Chief Whip of the Senate and former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu defied COVID-19 protocols to welcome him back to the state on Monday.

This is the first time Kalu would be coming home after he was jailed and later released from detention by Supreme Court in May.

Kalu who landed at the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Imo State took off to his hometown, Umuisi Igbere in Bende Local Government Area of the state.

The church service which was to hold at the Mater Dei Catholic Cathedral Church, Azikiwe road in Umuahia North LGA couldn’t hold, leaving many of his supporters who were waiting patiently dejected.

In an interview with journalists at the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, on his way to Igbere, his hometown, the senator said he was happy to visit home.

The senator, who was welcomed by over 2,000 supporters at the airport, explained that work is ongoing on the 19 road projects he attracted to the five council areas of the Abia North zone.

He said; “I’m happy to be home. My constituents did not miss anything. The 19 road projects I placed in the national budget are ongoing. The road projects cover the five LGAs of Abia North zone.”

Party stalwarts at the airport included the state Woman Leader, Dr Ori Obasi, Mr Chijioke Chukwu, representing Kalu’s Bende State Constituency at the Abia House of Assembly, Mr Ndukwe Agu, former General Manager, Abia Road Maintenance Agency, among others.

In separate remarks, they thanked God for Orji’s freedom from incarceration, saying that it further emboldens the party ahead of the 2023 polls in Abia.

They also expressed the hope that Orji, who they described as a detribalised Nigerian, liked by many people across party lines, would give voice to the aspiration for a president of Igbo extraction in 2023.