SKC Ogbonnia, one of the presidential aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration of interest to run in the 2019 election was a worse evil than the annulment of the June 12 presidential election by the General Ibrahim Babangida military regime.
In a statement he entitled “Definitely strident,” the politician explained that this position must however not be misconstrued as a view that President Muhammadu Buhari is worse than the cabal that annulled June 12 or Sani Abacha who attempted to legitimize the national curse.
According to him, he had remained overjoyed that God used the APC and Buhari to rescue Nigeria from the ruins the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, left the country.
He explained that he was peeved because instead of emulating Nelson Mandela to quit the stage when the ovation was still echoes, Buhari appears to be imitating the likes of Robert Mugabe to cling on to power by hook or crook.
Ogbonnia warned that Buhari’s bid for a second term in office at this stage of national development portends long-term consequences worse than the annulment of June 12 election of 1993 won by MKO Abiola, an injustice the state under Buhari is trying so hard to atone.
Giving his reasons, Ogbonnia said, “My practical observations at the just concluded APC national Convention are troubling. The most alarming is an emerging consensus from the event of a thickening plot to circumvent internal party democracy and anoint President Muhammadu Buhari as the party’s candidate for the 2019 presidential election. But such attempt will bring PDP back to power, which is a recipe for national doom.
“President Buhari and his handlers must understand that, by commission or omission, the ruling party effortlessly allowed the opposition to rupture the balloon of public trust initially inflated by a cocktail of change mantra and the myth of Buhari’s legendary pedigree.
“The president might have restored some measure of his political capital with improving economy and recovering health, quite alright, but the damage is already done. In short, former President Jonathan was more popular at this stage of his presidency and still lost. Moreover, polls after polls have shown a whistling tide against recycled politicians. Needless to mention that the international community is craving for a modern leader for Africa’s most populous nation.
“The objective fact, if it is not already manifest, is that Nigerians are in dire need for a new generation of leaders, including the youth, who have the zeal and the competencies to cope with the demands of the 21st century.
“The good news, however, is that Nigeria currently has a crop of new generation of presidential hopefuls, whose democratic credentials, track record, and visions even trump those of man of hope, MKO Abiola, widely seen as a messiah never allowed to rule.”
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