Buhari, A Big Threat To PDP, Jonathan, Says Igbokwe

Spokesman of the Lagos State charter of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Joe Igbokwe has expressed optimism that the party’s presidential candidate, Maj-Gen Muhammudu Buhari (rtd), will defeat the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the rescheduled presidential polls. He also bares his mind on INEC’s preparation for the general elections, among other issues. YETUNDE AYOBAMI OJO reports.

Assessment of the campaigns so far

Campaigns have been going on across the country but I regret to say that we are dodging the issues. We are leaving out the burning issues to dwell on personalities and this is where we are not getting it right. Desperation and fear have so gripped the ruling party that they now play dirty. In the Presidential campaigns, Buhari has been a problem for the PDP.

  The Buhari of 2003, 2007 and 2011 has turned to a political giant, a bulldozer, and a massive movement in 2015, which the PDP and its candidate now dread.

  It baffles one’s imagination that a man who contested elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011 is being accused of not having a certificate in 2015 because he has moved from the back seat to the driver’s seat. They talk about his certificate, his age, his health, his family, his religion, his wife, his culture and all other manner of things, leaving real issues of what they intend to do for Nigerians and to move the nation forward.

   The PDP and their supporters are worried to the bones. The fear of Buhari is now the beginning of wisdom. They know that a President Buhari will not tolerate corruption as a way of life again; that he will plug the loopholes in the system; that the people that ruined Nigeria will be brought to book. They are moving their families and wealth abroad because Buhari is coming and he is coming on strong. 

  I fear for those who think it is going to be business as usual.

All things considered, President Jonathan has lost this election the day Buhari was picked as a candidate of the APC in Lagos. From all permutations and analysis, the game has been won and lost at the first ballot. 

  There is finger of God in all this. Did anybody remember that Buhari cried in 2011 for Nigeria? God saw those genuine tears and decided to pave way for him to help in fixing the land. Buhari’s coming in 2015 is a prayer answered. 

  In Lagos, the campaigns are all about continuity of intelligent leadership, committed leadership and disciplined leadership. In Lagos, it is experience versus inexperience. It is Akinwunmi Ambode’s 27 years experience in governance, who retired as accountant general of the state versus Jimi Agbaje, a pharmacist in Apapa. It is capacity versus incapacity. It is capability versus incapability.

Issues that will shape the presidential election and the governorship election in Lagos

  At the Presidential level, we expect that Nigerians will think about the very important issues of national security. Nigerians will ask questions about the Chibok girls and our stolen territories by Boko Haram. Nigerians will ask questions about the power sector and why it has not worked after investing billions of dollars in 16 years, and about the abuse of law enforcement agencies and others.

  In Lagos, Lagosians will look at the last 16 years of AC, ACN and APC governance. It have seen the transformation from what former President Obasanjo called a slum to a modern and cleanest city in Nigeria.

  Lagosians have seen how lives and property were secured through committed and effective leadership. They have seen their Lagos has been made a world destination in 16 years; competing with great cities of the world; and setting the pace for other states. The choice is there for Nigerians to make. There is no meeting between performance and non-performance.

INEC must ensure votes count

  Votes must count if we want to help this country to grow. If you rig mediocrity into an exalted office of the President or Governor, the people will suffer for four or eight years. This is the reason why our democratic institutions must help the system to work. 

 The Police, Army, Navy, Airforce, SSS or DSS, Civil Defence, NYSC, Customs and others must allow our democracy to work. They must make our votes to count this time around.

INEC yet to get the PVCs distribution right

  Some people are not collecting the PVC’s because INEC did not get it right from the onset. I have been told that the only way a small army can defeat a huge army is probably because the small army had a better training, well equipped, well organized and possibly led by a gallant general. If INEC had been better organized and prepared like we have seen in other climes like India, collecting PVC’s would not have been an issue. People and institutions fail because they fail to plan.