The Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu on Wednesday expressed disappointment with some candidates who engage in verbal attacks during campaigns, rather than focusing on what they will do for the electorate.
Kalu made his observation known while reacting to questions at a media event held in his office in Abuja.
The former governor of Abia State drew the attention of candidates to the fact that they are well known to the people, hence, they need not dwell on the past records of their political rivals but concentrate on what they can put on the table for the people they are seeking votes from.
Verbal attacks, he pointed out, are used by spokespersons of some politicians contesting elections, insisting that the development constitutes an abuse of democracy.
He warned spokespersons of presidential candidates of the leading political parties against trivialities in their sophistries, stressing that their principals must not dwell on frivolous matters which invariably de-market the democratic process.
He said: “Everybody in Nigeria knows that there are four leading Presidential candidates for the 2023 Presidential election but their spokespersons are not giving Nigerians the required information as regards programmes and agenda of their principals on the myriad of challenges facing the nation.
“What Nigerians want to hear from the four leading candidates of the four formidable political parties, is their plans on how to turn around the Nation’s economy for the better, end insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of crimes and criminalities bedevilling the country.
“Nigerians are tired of rhetorics on personal lives of the presidential candidates as being churned out by their spokespersons who primarily should be focusing on what their principals have in stock for the people across the various sectors”, he said.
Reacting to the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari, the lawmaker said, he did well in some areas, while he failed in some aspects, but noted, that government is a continuum which is usually anywhere in the world.
Leadership according to him, is like the exchange of batons in a race where every participant is expected to play his or her role and go.
“President Buhari and his team have done their best within the last seven and half years, preparatory to quitting the stage within the next six months for another set of leaders and by extension, new ideas, policies and programmes.
“Emergence of leaders at any time in the life of any country is always facilitated by circumstances and situations that are prevalent, making leaders at different times, have different challenges to face”, he said.
