Given the fact that corruption is our greatest problem in Nigeria, one that even pushed Boko Haram to what it has now become, Gen Buhari’s integrity should count positively for his candidacy.
Justifying its tag as truly macabre, this past week showed, unambiguously, that PDP will stop at nothing to bring Nigeria down with it. Nigerians woke up early in the week to read about the PDP governorship aspirant in whose account $50,000 was allegedly found –how the godfathers must be missing Mr Ibori; soon after, it was the turn of a Judge of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Justice Charles R. Norgle, to cause the eminent PDP Southwest poster boy, Buruji Kashamu, the total indignity of having to waste money on a newspaper advert just to tell Nigerians that he will ‘fight till he gets justice’. Judge Norgle had refused Kasamu’s motion to be acquitted in an earlier indictment of importing drugs to the U.S, but rather held that should Kasamu ever come to the U.S, voluntarily or not, he could be put on trial in the Federal District Court in Chicago.
You would have thought that was enough for one week of what the APC has appropriately described as PDP’s ‘series of global ridicule to which it has subjected Nigeria and her people’.
Then popped up the mother of all ridicules, when a plane allegedly bought for evangelism was, instead, converted to laundering money , ferrying $9.3 million dollars to South Africa, accompanied by two Nigerians and an Israeli contractor. The money has since been ordered seized by the South African Assets Forfeiture Unit.
All these are only a small fraction of PDP’s corruption ridden government and it is the more reason Corruption should be a key subject of APC’s campaign to tackle this government. Nigeria had never been this corrupt. It is for this reason I focus today on who the ideal APC Presidential candidate should be. I hereby invite interested Nigerians to send me their views in not more than 800 words.
Below are the views of Abiodun Ayodele, a young Nigerian publisher, who has a good grasp of strategy.
Under the title: APC AND THE 2015 PRESIDENCY, he wrote:
“Can APC win the 2015 Presidential election?
Yes. Can APC lose the 2015 Presidency, in spite of, having the potential to win it? Yes.
The 2015 Presidency is in APC’s hands to win or lose, and hardwork or lack of it, as well as creativity or lack of it will determine which way.
The APC national hierarchy as presently constituted is in good hands with the Chairman, Chief Oyegun and his Deputy, Chief Segun Oni being former state governors. Lai Mohammed a lawyer with impressive thinking and writing ability is also there but has the team demonstrated the capacity to prosecute the 2015 elections to victory?
So far, not convincingly.
The Chairman says APC is ‘maturely engaging President Jonathan but what does this mean or amount to with the President? Is it a compromised silence to hurt the interest of APC in 2015 or a lack of capacity to prosecute the 2015 presidential election to victory?
Either way, it is unthinkable that APC, and the Nigerian people especially, would be happy to allow President Jonathan continue in office beyond 2015. Why would a grossly incompetent leadership be allowed to continue to drag Nigeria further down in corruption, vision-lessness, poverty, and the daily loss of thousands of innocent citizens in all manner of untamed conflicts?
The Oyegun team’s ‘silence’ has given fillip to the PDP to monopolise the airwaves like a colossus. They now daily insult the Nigerian people on television networks with their huge lies of achieving so much in office! The PDP now confidently deceives the people to believe that there is no person more capable than Jonathan for 2015 and, in truth, who will blame them for making these wild claims when the nearest opposition party seems to be taking a nap? (Apologies to Sabela Addide of The Punch newspaper)
WHO SHOULD FLY THE APC FLAG?
The simple answer to this poser is that evidences of previous electoral contests affirm that the most acceptable of APC’s likely candidates, and who can surely win, even massively, is General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).
Why General Muhammadu Buhari?
The truth is that here is an honest man who is also known for honesty of purpose, and to date, no Nigerian has come up against him with any shred of a shady financial deal in all the positions of responsibility he has held in the country. The APC hierarchy can do a simple arithmetic to confirm this assertion or what did AC, and later A C N candidates in the presidential elections of 2007, and 2011 score against him?
General Muhammadu Buhari’s major electoral weakness has been his weak campaigns that were characterized by very poor publicity of his personal qualities and his unalloyed commitment to the public good, which he continues to demonstrate by drawing attention to how people in government have turned themselves to ‘authority stealing’. (apologies to late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti).
Most Nigerian youth are not aware that General Muhammadu Buhari was once a Nigerian Head of State and that he neither stole public funds, increased the price of petrol , nor allowed corruption to thrive in government, unlike what currently obtains in all the three tiers of government.
General Buhari has the personal weakness of always keeping quiet over damaging allegations against him, and, his campaign teams, over the years, have not been hard working. The campaign teams have, instead, always tended to conclude, naively, after losing an election that the general is probably not wanted by Nigerians and so would always be rigged out by PDP. They say these things only to hide their laziness and inability to put all material facts about General Buhari in the public domain to secure him the people’s vote. A Redeemed Church pastor friend that voted for General Buhari in the 2011 election told me he adjudged him the only candidate deserving of his vote at that election. I have also been privileged to listen to a top company executive after the 2011 poll complain of Nigerians’ folly in electing the current president. He said he voted General Buhari. These two people are Yoruba. Others I have met told me they voted General Buhari at
the 2011 poll. No wonder he scored nearly 10% of Lagos votes in 2011 in spite of literally not campaigning here in the South. Any greater evidence of Buhari’s electoral acceptability? General Buhari can partner with persons like Professor Utomi, Governor Okorocha, Femi Falana (SAN), Prof. Akin Oyebode, or a notable Company Chief Executive or academician and the team would be more than convincing to win”.
As my own little contribution, for now, let me add that I think the general’s campaigns had lacked adequate funding and his overall logistics suffered thereby; weaknesses which an APC well-funded, issues-based campaign should effortlessly cure. For instance the CPC was primed to have won at least two or three additional states in the governorship election in 2011 but for lack of funds and inadequate logistics.
Given the fact that corruption is our greatest problem in Nigeria, one that even pushed Boko Haram to what it has now become, Gen Buhari’s integrity should count positively for his candidacy.
