A former military Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, declared his bid for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress.
Buhari, who addressed a crowd of supporters and members of the party in Abuja, said the level of corruption in Nigeria today was worse than any time in its history.
While promising to ensure the protection of the lives and property of Nigerians, he promised to ensure the creation of jobs for the youths as well as revive failing industries.
He said he empathised with Nigerians who, he said, were suffering deprivation on a daily basis.
According to him, millions of Nigerians are grappling with extreme poverty and barely eking out a living.
He said, “Nearly all are in fear for their lives or safety for themselves and their families due to insurgency by an ungodly group called Boko Haram, by marauding murderers in towns and villages, by armed robbers on the highways, by kidnappers who have put many communities to fright and sometimes to flight.”
The aspirant explained that it remained everyone’s duty to resolve and help the national effort to overcome these challenges.
He expressed gratitude to security operatives for their sacrifices in confronting the security challenges facing the nation.
He also saluted the courage of Nigerians for their “perseverance and resolve in the face of the oppressive PDP government.”
Buhari then went on to announce that, “I humbly wish to present myself before you, before all Nigerians and before God seeking to be elected as the APC Presidential candidate.”
The former military ruler explained that members of the opposition came to the realisation that the only way to relieve Nigerians of the burden of maladministration imposed on them by the PDP was to come together as one.
“We have tried to ensure that all processes in our party are transparent and credible. These structures will lead to free and fair polls. There is no point in holding elections if they are not free and fair,” he said.
While accusing the PDP of unwholesome practices, Buhari said, “Interference in the form of rigging which the PDP government has been practising since 2003 is the worse form of injustice as it denies people their rights to express their opinions whether they like it or not, injustice cannot endure.
“Since 1999, the PDP has presided over our country’s decline. Nigeria in my experience has never been so divided, so polarised by an unthinking government hellbent on ruling and stealing forever.
“We in APC have resolved to stop the PDP in its tracks and rescue Nigeria from the stranglehold of the PDP. The last 16 years of the PDP government has witnessed a decline in all critical sectors of Nigeria.”
He reiterated that apart from the Boko Haram insurgency, there was general insecurity in the land.
This, he said, was at a time when government was engaged in the manipulation of figures to announce “fantastic growth rates.”
Buhari said, “The economy continues to deteriorate while government continues to announce fantastic growth figures but manufacturing is down, agriculture is down, commerce is down simply because you sell oil and steal part of the money.
“That does not entitle you to cook figures and announce phantom economic growth when all the major indices namely, employment, manufacturing, farming, trading are demonstrably on the decline.”
He promised to revive the nation’s ailing industries and give the nation a new sense of direction by creating jobs through the pursuit of economic policies that would reduce poverty and redistribute the nation’s wealth among its people.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, had said the 14 governors on the party’s platform had resolved to support whoever emerged as the party’s flag bearer.
He said, “The governors in the APC are determined to work together for this change in all our meetings we insist that whoever emerges as the party candidate will be supported.
“You know our dear Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is one of the aspirants for the ticket of the APC right? And you know he is a material they don’t have in the other party. If they say they have a material like him they should show us somebody who is anti-corruption like Buhari.
“APC provides an alternative for the country. We are tested and we will never disappoint Nigerians.”
He used the occasion to take a swipe at the PDP-led Federal Government for claiming credit for Nigeria’s Ebola containment success story.
Also, one time National Chairman of the PDP and second Republic Minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh, debunked claims that Buhari was a religious bigot.
Ogbeh said, “I am a Christian so is Adams Oshiomhole, so is John Oyegun, so is Rochas Okorocha. Those calling him a fanatic are no more Christians than we are. We don’t want to call them Pharisees and Sadduces, claiming they are more holy, more catholic than the pope.
Meanwhile, the PDP said it was pleased to welcome Buhari to the 2015 presidential contest.
While congratulating and wishing him well on his ambition, the party in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said it noted that Buhari’s criticism of Jonathan on economy was faulty.
He said that the nation was rated number 48 in the world, while the foreign reserve stood at $3.6bn and foreign debt stood at $36bn.
Metuh said, “It is incontrovertible that in the last 15 years of the PDP leadership, especially the last three years of dynamic and purposeful administration provided by President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s economy has become the largest in Africa and the 26th largest in the world. Similarly, our foreign reserve is now over $39bn, and our foreign debt reduced to less than $7bn from $36bn.
“Besides, Gen. Buhari also told supporters that Nigeria’s agricultural sector has gone down under the PDP, a statement which also does not reflect the reality on the ground.”
He added that the country’s food import had reduced from N1.1tn in 2010 to N684bn.”
No comments:
Post a Comment