Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is an Igbo betrayer despite getting South-East support for his vice presidency, says former Governor Orji Kalu.

“Any southerner that is not from the South-East and is coming to run for president is a betrayer,” Mr Kalu said. “They are the ones betraying us.”

The ex-Abia governor stated this in an interview with Channels TV on Monday night, declaring that the South-South and the South-West have abandoned the South-East in its quest to produce the next president.

Mr Kalu is riled that Mr Osinbajo, a Redeemed pastor, could betray the trust of the South-East, claiming that the Igbo helped him on his way to becoming the vice president of Nigeria.

“We have supported South West. We supported President (Olusegun) Obasanjo. We supported Vice President (Yemi) Osinbajo,” Mr Kalu pointed out. “We supported Vice President (Goodluck) Jonathan for five years, and we supported President (Goodluck) Jonathan for six years. Why can’t they support us?”

The serving senator also regarded other South-West presidential aspirants, including APC national leader Bola Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi, Tunde Bakare, etc., as betrayers.

Mr Kalu, an APC chieftain interested in the presidential race but feels hamstrung that the ruling party refused to zone the presidential ticket to the South-East.

He has repeatedly complained about the party’s failure to consider the history and political trajectory of the Igbos.

In April, he castigated South-South and South-West APC presidential aspirants for being selfish.

“I am even shocked with the number of aspirants coming from the South West and the South-South. It is embarrassing that these aspirants (APC and PDP) have no single respect and concern for the South East,” the senator had said. “I had thought they would think about the South-East; I thought they would support us. The amount of money being spent by these aspirants is alarming and they have forgotten that money alone cannot buy the presidency.”