How President will institutionalise the country, by Obanikoro

Buhari insists polls’ shift provocative

FORMER Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, yesterday emphasised the need to re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan to continue the good work and institutionalise interest of Nigerians.

  Obanikoro, who made this known while appreciating members of the National‎ Commercial Tricycle Owners and Motorcycle Owners Association (NACTOMORAS) for endorsement of re-election of President Jonathan, said the President would continue to move the country forward.

  He said: “Jonathan has made Nigeria an exporting country of cement to other countries. He has eliminated polio. Today, ‎all the states of the federation have their universities. He built 12 universities in four years. That is the President who is thinking and working knowing that the country cannot move forward without knowledge.

  “He is investing knowledge so that Nigeria can be among the best in the world‎. For the first time in the history of this country, nobody has been arrested for harassing Mr. President. He has shown that he is humble, I have never seen any man in power that has been humble as President Jonathan.”

  Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has insisted that the postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is provocative

  Buhari, who said that the security issue which was used in shifting the election dates has been part of the nation’s life in the last six years, noted that if the military found it difficult to curb insurgency in 14 out of the 774 local councils in six years, there is nothing to show that they would get rid of the insurgents in six weeks.

  Though he noted that the six weeks shift can still be accommodated within the stipulated constitutional provisions for the conduct of the elections, Buhari pointed out that further shift of the elections should not be contemplated.

  In an interview with Aljazeera Martine Dennis, he said he was extremely disappointed with the latest decision, noting that INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had in his brief to the Council of State made it known that the Commission was prepared for the February 14 elections.

  Buhari, who hopes that the military, INEC and ruling PDP will not further shift the elections, says he does not expect such action from them.

  Obanikoro, however, said Buhari does not deserve to rule this country, noting: “Buhari do not deserve to lead this country and he will not lead. He belongs to the past, we know him to be a dictator. He will outsource everything. He has nothing to offer the country of ours.

  “He has not improved himself since he left school; he has done nothing to improve himself. So, how do you expect such a man to improve the country? You cannot give what you don’t have.”

  But NACTOMORAS National President, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Hassan in his address, said the association is the highest employer of labour in the country, noting that they re-endorsed President Jonathan for second term.

  His word: “The Tricycle and Motorcycle Unions and Association in Nigeria came together under the name of NACTOMORAS. We are having about nine million members across the country of which 40 per cent are university graduates and other unemployed school leavers. 

   He, however, charged all their members to be law-abiding during and after elections and not engage in any act that may result in violence.

  On the security threat in North-East, the APC candidate said Nigerian military personnel are well trained to curb the insurgents if they get the necessary support from the nation’s leadership.

  “If the troops deployed for Ekiti State election had been deployed to Chibok, they would have rescued the 200 Chibok girls taken away by the insurgents”, he said.

  Buhari, who insisted that the government was not serious about curbing the insurgency, maintained that if the military deployed for Ekiti and Osun elections were to be in North-East, there would have been an end to the insurgency.

  The APC presidential candidate, who insisted that it is embarrassing that neighbouring countries in a bid to protect their own territories had to enter Nigeria to fight the insurgents, said that the ruling party ought to have initiated a high-powered security meeting with the neighbouring countries to end the insurgency.