Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and foremost pro-democracy activist, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, has said that former Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar was the right man to win the 2019 presidential election.
Agbakoba told the Sun that what Nigeria needed was a good president irrespective of where he comes from.
Agbakoba who is also the leader of the National Intervention Movement, NIM, pointed out that he couldn’t have bothered if Buhari continued as President so long as he (Buhari) was doing what is right.
According to the Senior lawyer, Buhari has turned out to be a very bad President and the only alternative now was Atiku.
I would not have minded Buhari to continue if he was good. Unfortunately, he has turned out to be a very bad president.
That is the problem. He has destroyed the economy. Everything is on the floor. He has divided the country.
Everywhere and everything is scattered. So, I cannot give him my own support. I would rather support a person who I think will turn Nigeria around positively. And that requires a lot of thinking.
There are so many presidential aspirants on the field. But we need to look very carefully to pick the best. We need to be cautious so that we don’t make another mistake.”
Asked who he think fits the bill among all the presidential candidates, he added, “Atiku! “Yes, in spite of all corruption allegations laid against him, there has not been any charge brought against him.
“Secondly, he has a broad business vision. He has a deep political experience. He has a pan-Nigerian outlook.
“He is married to an Igbo woman, married to a Yoruba woman. He is detribalized, even in the employment profile in his companies.
“He goes for the best regardless of where the person comes from. He understands Nigeria. My money is on him.
“Whether he will win, I don’t know. But I am only looking at someone who I think will draw from his experience to turn things around.
“I don’t care if he does eight years. That is the joker. Let us forget this North and South nonsense. Let’s forget it.
“Let us focus on getting a good president. Turning Nigeria around has an ideological and structural element.
“The ideological element is that we have to decide who we want it to be. The constitution is very correct when it declares Nigeria to be a secular state. Enough of this religion.
“It is killing us. Look at the Miyetti Allah thing or the herders problem as it were, if the leader of Nigeria is crystal clear about saving Nigeria, all this Hajj, Christian, Muslim pilgrimages that are state-sponsored should not be allowed.
“The second important point is restructuring. We have to understand that it can only work if the entire Nigerian nation is behind it.
“Right now, that is not what we see and a lot of people in the North do not understand it, except Atiku.
“And I know why. The language of the South is so threatening. You can’t restructure the South alone.”
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