A former Head of State and one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) Yesterday boasted that the All Peoples Congress, APC will force the ruling Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, out of power come 2015.
According to him, “The APC is focus-driven to push the PDP out of power by 2015,” Buhari told members of the Democratic Emancipation Movement who paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.
The former presidential candidate said whether he is allowed to contest for the position or not, the APC was capable of ousting the acclaimed largest party in Africa, PDP.
He said, “My decision will be tied to the constitution of the APC. If the party chooses me as its candidate, I will contest. If the members do not consider me, I will not contest, but I will still support the party. My decision to run for 2015 will solely be that of the party,” Buhari said.
He assured that the new party would make Nigeria rank top amongst the comity of nations.
The Kastina State born politician also heaped praises on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the registration of APC.
Buhari said, “I thought about this merger in 2007. This is because I found out that none of the opposition parties can challenge PDP successfully. But if we come together with those that have representation at the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly and go back to sensitise our constituencies, even if the PDP want to rig, they would find it impossible to rig.
“I discovered that by being so divisive, we made ourselves very vulnerable. So, the best way to survive and for this country to stabilise, we just have to come together, and I believe, along the line, we made necessary sacrifices.
“The tension in the country has already come down; people now think that they have a viable alternative. These feelings and belief cuts across the country, not only in the North or in the South-West. There is a good feeling about the party in all the political zones of the country.
“Our next important step is the mobilisation of constituencies to make sure that elections are conducted according to the law.
He said, “To be honest, we have to thank INEC because when we thought we had applied according to the 2010 Electoral Act, INEC drew our attention to the Electoral Act provision that said that there must be a headquarters at the federal capital that is good enough to be called headquarters of a national party. Then, there was the issue of our constitution, our manifesto, and the harmonisation of the main three parties.
“We thought that the initial nine signatories were enough to manage the party on the interim between registration and convention, but INEC advised us and told us that we needed to get between at least 25 or 35 people to come out from the whole geopolitical zones to sign.
“If INEC wanted to be wicked, they could have kept mute and just sent us a letter that our application was not complete. They could have done that. But for them to have sent us an observation which was later corrected, I believe they have been very impartial and we thank them for that.”
Buhari’s optimism about the APC notwithstanding, the PDP said the new party was incapable of winning in 2015.
In a swift reaction, the PDP Acting Publicity Secretart, Mr. Tony Okereke said that Buhari, who ruled Nigeria as a military Head of State between 1983 and 1985, was day-dreaming.
“There is no way the APC can win the election in 2015. He (Buhari) is day-dreaming,” Tony said
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