President Muhammadu Buhari turned the national executive committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which held in Abuja yesterday into a campaign ground to announce his intention to seek re-election in 2019.
“I came because of two things- to finally nail this tenure elongation and my ambition in 2019. I hereby announce to you that I am seeking re-election as permitted by the 1999 Constitution,” Buhari reportedly told the party’s NEC.
His senior special assistant on media and publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu who confirmed the president’s 2019 ambition quoted him as saying that he was reacting to the people’s wish.
“President Buhari made the declaration at a closed-door meeting of the national executive committee of the APC.
“The President said he was responding to the clamour by Nigerians to re-contest in 2019, adding that he wanted to give NEC the honour of notifying them first.
“Shortly before making the declaration, the President presented a speech on the report submitted by the APC national executive technical committee,” said Shehu in a statement.
All along, Buhari was not forthcoming on whether or not he will contest in 2019 thereby keeping Nigerians, nay, his political party in great suspense.
Shortly after making his intention known, Buhari left for the UK where he is expected to hold discussions on Nigeria-British relations with British Prime Minister, Theresa May, prior to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting scheduled for April 18 to 20.
The president’s declaration has sent sparks flying and somewhat sealed the hope of young Turks in the APC who had nursed the ambition to run and were waiting with bated breath for the president to say at any time “I’ll retire after May 29, 2019.”
For some people, the president’s decision did not come as a surprise to them as he was said to have disclosed his ambition to some of his trusted ‘inner disciples’ while he kept the declaration plan under wraps.
“Most NEC members, especially the critical stakeholders, were transfixed because the president never gave them the benefit of doubt. Those plotting against him in the party were left bewildered most. The declaration changed the atmosphere and shortly after, we rose for the National Anthem.
“This is the second time in two weeks that the President will surprise some of us. At the last NEC meeting, he raised some constitutional issues against tenure elongation without giving us any inkling,” a source at the meeting reportedly said.
Barely hours after he spoke, he left for London and as such the party had no opportunity to ask him how he arrived at the decision to seek re-election.
However, there has been a flurry of reactions since the president made the pronouncement, with some welcoming it while others re-echoed the call by some retired general that Nigeria has outgrown analogue leadership.
The governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, describes Buhari’s second term-term bid as an “ambition dead on arrival.”
Fayose who spoke to the media in Ado Ekiti through his chief press secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, warned that Nigeria will be done for if Buhari is re-elected in 2019.warned that if Buhari is re-elected,
He said if the president is unable to read the hand on the wall to know when to call it quits, Nigerians would show him the exit in 2019 by voting him out of office.
Fayose said Buhari is not only too old to lead the country, but had bungled the opportunity given him by his woeful performance.
“That ambition is dead on arrival. We don’t want grandpa as president anymore. Nigeria does not deserve a Buhari as president in 2019. Buhari is old and tired. When people don’t know when to take their leave and say bye, Nigerians will show them the exit.
“He has done more harm to this country. His ambition is a means by which Nigerians will tell him good riddance to bad rubbish when they boot him out of office. He is an easy candidate to defeat in the poll for he has failed woefully.
“He has failed in all fronts. He has failed in his so-called fight against corruption and in the economic front. He has not done well in terms of security. People are being killed in large number daily and Nigerians have no confidence in him.
“His declaration, today, is a slap on Nigerians in the face of what they are passing through. His government is not only clueless, but a shambles. He should go home and rest,” he said.
The pan-Yoruba social-political body, Afenifere, also reacted saying Nigerians would reject the president’s second term bid if he gets the APC ticket.
Spokesperson for the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said Buhari has the constitutional right to seek re-election, but he said it would be foolhardy to experience another four years of the government of Buhari.
“He has a constitutional right to seek re-election, but Nigerians also have the constitutional right to reject him.
“It is left for Nigerians to decide if they want another four years of this rudderless government that has turned everybody into beggars, except those in government. “If Nigerians said they want a government that has crippled the economy for another four years, it is left for them. But I am sure Nigerians would not be crazy to retain this government for another four years,” he said.
For his part, a Second Republic lawmaker, Junaid Muhammed, said Buhari was not trustworthy because “I remember during the campaign, he promised to do only one tenure”.
He alleged that the president and his supporters were planning to rig the election and plunge the country into turmoil.
“This announcement is very unfortunate. It is done in very bad fate and I think it will not do the country or the people any good because I believe politicians, being what they are and he is nothing now more than a politician, should be assessed by what they say. That is the only logical way to asses them, by what they say and what they do.
“He (Buhari) said severally during the campaign that he was not going to contest for a second term. He also said he was going to do a number of things. He has failed woefully in all of the things he said he was going to do. “He put up a cabinet that was a national and international scandal; he brought his relations, friends and cronies to the cabinet, none of whom is performing or has performed during the last three years. “On the whole, he is the least competent, the least prepared person for the office of the president of this country.
“But he decided, in spite of his non-performance, to go in and contest. “It is now clear to me and I believe to every right thinking Nigerians that his politics is all about himself, his nepotism, his cronyism of friends and relations. “It is not about national interest, because what he did in the last three years had nothing to do with national interest.
“So, I don’t believe that another four years of Buhari post 2019 will do him or the country any good. We are likely to have more of the same and I can’t see him performing. “It is left for Nigerians to speak their mind and when the time comes, to speak with their vote. “I believe he is not going to be relying on the votes of Nigerians.
“I think the intention is to rig the election and throw the country into turmoil much more than the current turmoil of a failed Boko Haram fight, failed fight against corruption, against militants in the Niger Delta and a government that lacks any moral authority. He believes only in feathering the nest of his cronies and relations,” said Yakassai.
Also reacting, the Arewa Consultative Forum, (ACF) described as “unnecessary” controversy surrounding the re-election bid saying is left for Nigerians to decide his fate at the polls.
ACF said through its secretary general, Mr. Anthony Sani that it is Buhari’s right as a Nigerian, “but the decision of the voters is the ultimate”.
He also said the APC has the right to nominate the president for re-election.
The former governor of the old Kaduna State and chieftain of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Mr. Balarabe Musa, who welcomed Buhari’s declaration” however said his party (PRP)would come up with a strong candidate to challenge him at the poll.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is welcome on board, but we want to assure Nigerians that the PRP has a presidential candidate to field in the 2019 general elections,” he said.
Similarly, the former national caretaker committee chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Ahmed Makarfi, said in a text message: “It’s no news that he is contesting; it would have been news if he had announced the opposite.”
The Sokoto State Secretary of PDP, Kabiru Aliyu, said Nigerians should vote out the APC or prepare for “another four years of hunger.”
“Buhari’s age and health condition are all in Allah’s hand, but what is more of concern is good governance and ability to transform the country better.
“Nigerians should vote PDP to avoid continuous hunger and maladministration that subject people to hardships,” he said.
Also speaking, the governor of Borno State, Mr. Kashim Shettima of Borno State described Buhari as the “single kinetic president in the nation’s political life”.
Shettima who said Buhari stands a better chance to win in 2019 declared: “Certainly, he is the single kinetic president in Nigeria’s political life till date.
“We are fully in support of his decision and it is part of democratic culture. Traditionally, the president has the right of first refusal of the candidature of the party.
“So, it’s not something that is unusual or unwarranted or unconstitutional. He has done the right thing. He is going to contest and we are solidly behind him.”
On whether the president consulted with the APC governors before making open his intention to seek re-election, he said: “He is not under any obligation to consult governors or anybody. “He has been under tremendous pressure to make that pronouncement. So, we should heave a sigh of relief since he has finally announced his intention to contest.
“We will give him the kind of support we gave him in 2015.”
On whether the president’s early declaration will not affect governance as the focus of the administration will now be geared towards re-election, Shettima responded: “Certainly, it is not distracting government. It will even calm down governance so that people will concentrate on the real act of governance and deliver the dividends of democracy.”
However, former minister of education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, took to her official twitter account (@obyezeks) on to warn the president that Nigerians will vote him out in next year’s election.
“There was a masquerade which in a burst of Hubris left its own village & strayed into a neighboring town. The neighbors gave it the beating of a lifetime, it barely survived. Asked some months later if it would go again, it replied: I have not recovered from my 1st journey!
“Reading the ‘Breaking News’ that our president will be seeking reelection in 2019, I remembered the story of the “Ejionu” masquerade. Our President has not yet recovered from his first journey and here he is UNLIKE the very wise Ejionu, seeking to embark on a second one.
“The very nice thing about the “Breaking News” is that at least Citizens now officially know that it is to President Muhammadu Buhari that we shall personally hand APC’s own portion of the Red Card to APC and PDP. 2019 is surely the Year of The office of the Citizen,” she posted.
