Orji to quit politics in 2023, distances self from presidential posters

Representative of Abia Central Senatorial District, Theodore Orji has declared that he will quit politics after serving his present tenure in 2023, insisting that he reached the decision to grow democracy and give space for the younger generations.

Orji, who was immediate past governor of the state, noted that that he made the decision to make positive contributions to deepen democratic governance in the country.

He also disowned presidential campaign posters in major streets of Aba and Umuahia, indicating that he would contest the presidency in 2023.

Orji came to political limelight in 1999 when he served under former Governor Orji Kalu as Chief of Staff (COS) to the government for eight years. He ran the governorship election of the state in 2007 and won.

He went to the Senate in 2015 after serving eight years as governor to represent the Central Senatorial District and was reelected for another four last year that would laspe in 2023.

Although he is currently faced with allegation of financial mismanagement bothering on his eight years administration of Abia State, Orji stated yesterday that he had made up his mind that he would not contest any elective office after 2023.

He said the decision was to pave way for younger politicians to serve and contribute their quota to nation building, stressing that nothing would make him recant on his words.

The senator blamed his detractors for the posters, explaining that he had also been informed that the same posters had been seen in Ebonyi State and appealed to law enforcement agencies to arrest anybody sighted pasting such posters since they did not emanate from him got his approval.

“In 2023, I’ll be off the (political) scene. This is my last political outing in terms of contesting for elective position. You have to allow young people to grow; if I don’t retire, I’ll be denying young people the opportunity to grow,” he stated.

Orji restated his resolve to quit politics by 2023 yesterday through his Chief Lisiason Officer, Ifeanyi Umere, following his posters that have surfaced Aba and Umuahia purporting that he (Orji) would run for the country’s presidency in 2023.