REMARKS BY GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR AT A PROGRESSIVE GOVERNORS FORUM DINNER, ABUJA. NOVEMBER 6TH, 2013 Chairman of the occasion Dr Ogbonna Onu, Your Excellencies State Governors present, Chairman of APC; Chief Bisi Akande, Invited guests, ladies and gentlemen of the press. We should make no mistake that this is an historic occasion and we are living in historic times. Our dear country is undergoing; a realignment, a re-configuratio n and a re-positioning of political forces. We are witnessing a landslide or a political earthquake of epic proportions. Old alliances are being questioned; new alliances are being forged. Nigerians old and young, men and women, politicians and non- politicians are watching with great expectations that this movement will turn Nigeria around. Our neighbors in the West African Sub-region are anxiously watching and hoping that this may be the time when Nigeria will, at last get its act together and provide leadership and direction for the African continent. The international community is equally watching to see if this potentially sizeable security and trading partner called Nigeria can pull itself together and play its proper role in world affairs. These doubts and uncertainties we find ourselves in, causing everyone to scratch his and her head for solutions are as a result of extreme bad government at the centre since 1999. The Federal Government is clueless with no direction; speaking from both sides of its mouth; Looking both ways at once and missing the point almost every time. This, Mr Chairman, is the background and the rationale for the merger of opposition political parties. The trigger is persistent election rigging. Elections since 2003 have been massively rigged. One example should suffice. In 2007, Presidential elections were conducted on plain sheets of paper, violating a fundamental requirement of the Electoral Act, 2006. At the national collation venue after eleven states and Abuja results were sent, Professor Iwu left the venue and announced the “results.” No wonder three Supreme Court judges found that this was too much and ruled that the election be cancelled. Once we come together we will be strong enough to prevent election rigging. Otherwise we will be picked off piecemeal. Amidst this ineptitude and general confusion, the Government has thrown in a joker: A so-called National Conference. Now there is nothing basically wrong in sitting down and talking about your problems. The snag is whether the conference has been conceived in good faith or not. We in APC think not. We suspect it is an attempt to muddle the waters, to befuddle the issues and to mask the failures of a clueless government. Simple action on problems which have arisen has been lacking. People should reflect on major hearings in the National Assembly during the last 12 months; Hearings on PHCN Hearings on Pension Funds Hearings on NNPC No tangible action has been taken on the outcomes of these probes. The government just hopes these problems will go away. They will not and the public will continue to demand answers and solutions. The people of Nigeria want and deserve the simple things of life: Security to protect them from violence and intimidation from whatever quarters; they want food to eat; decent shelter; schools for their children; clinics to attend to them. They want an environment for them to be employed and to go about their daily pursuits without hindrance. None of these exist in the required measure in Nigeria today. It is in the light of this desperate situation that many patriotic and thinking Nigerians decided to come together, overlook differences and forge a new movement that will rescue our country from collapse. Our aim is to stop the drift and slide to chaos. Our vision is to get our act together, pull the country together, select the very best and most capable people to manage our affairs and our resources so that in due course we will bring Nigeria out of conflict and poverty into peace and prosperity. By the Grace of God we shall succeed. General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR Today at 12:10am
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 12:08:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015