Abia North Senator, Orji Uzor Kalu, on Monday, urged Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, to reconcile politically with President Bola Tinubu for the benefit of the people of Zamfara.
Kalu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), warned that Zamfara risked being sidelined in key development initiatives if the governor failed to practise “political economics” with the President.
He issued this advice while commissioning the newly constructed Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and the renovated Zamfara College of Arts and Science in Gusau, the state capital.
Kalu clarified that he was not asking Lawal to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC, but advised him to cultivate a productive relationship with the President, who remains an influential APC figure.
Recalling his own political experience, Kalu, who governed Abia State from 1999 to 2007 under the PDP, said he maintained a strong friendship with Tinubu, then a governor under the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
He said, “The President is not only my brother but also my friend. We didn’t just meet in politics. My daughters lived in his house in Lagos while we lived in Abia. Mrs Tinubu raised them like her own.
“Whatever differences existed between us politically have long been resolved. I encourage you to do the same.”
Kalu urged Governor Lawal to focus on economic cooperation with the Federal Government to access developmental funds.
He said, “If you abandon economic diplomacy and focus solely on politics, both you and the people of Zamfara will suffer. Use political economics to bring federal funds to the state.
“Former Governor Yari and you are both from Zamfara. Work together to bring meaningful development and federal attention to your people.”
He added that aligning with federal interests doesn’t require party defection, citing his collaboration with then-President Obasanjo despite Tinubu belonging to a different party.
Meanwhile, the recent defection of Governors Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom) and Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta) from the PDP to the APC has sparked concerns about a potential one-party state, a claim President Tinubu denied in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2025.