The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has described his endorsement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a boost to his ambition.
He expressed optimism that the endorsement will convince more Nigerians to vote for him during the presidential election.
Buhari said this on Wednesday night during an interview with CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, Christine Amanpour.
Recall that Obasanjo had on Tuesday in Nairobi, Kenya during an interview with the Financial Times of London at the launch of his controversial autobiography entitled, ‘My Watch,’ threw his weight behind Buhari’s candidacy.
Asked by Amanpour what he thought of Obasano’s endorsement, Buhari said, “It would certainly bring more supporters to us and more confidence again to us for those who are sitting on the fence.”
This, he said, was “because General Obasanjo is highly respected and as far as the Nigerian nation is concerned, there is no serious issue that can be discussed without people seeking his opinion and listening to it.”
During the interview, the ex general faulted president Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party on the reasons behind the postponement of the general elections.
Asked about the Boko Haram insurgency, Buhari reaffirmed that the military had been unable to overcome the insurgents because resources meant for the military had been misappropriated.
He said, “The National Assembly attempted to conduct a hearing by inviting the service chiefs to come and tell them why the weapons were not procured and sent to the soldiers under competent leadership; that hearing was scuttled.
“So, it showed the misapplication or misappropriation of the resources provided by government and why the Nigerian military was unable to defeat Boko Haram.”
If elected as president, he said, achieving that goal would not be “too difficult.”
“I believe this problem will not be too difficult for the APC government because we know the Nigerian military is competent. It is a question of making sure that the money voted for equipment and training is properly utilised,” he said.
The APC’s presidential candidate also said corruption had to be tackled “because there are serious citizens of this country that (have) said unless Nigeria kills corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”
In endorsing Buhari, Obasanjo had said, “The circumstances he (Buhari) will be working under if he wins the elections are different from the one he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature – he knows that. He is smart enough. He is educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?”
“I think I would be judged harshly as an individual that what happened during military administration can be extended under multi-party democratic system,” he said.
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