A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has done very well and deserves a second term if he wants to re-contest, contrary to the recent advised offered by former heads of state, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida.
The PDP chieftain stated this in an interview with Vanguard in Abuja. He maintained that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has no right to tell an eligible citizen of the country not to seek re-election in 2019.
“He made some points obviously but I don’t agree with all of them. For example, telling the President not to contest (2019), I don’t think anybody has any right to tell any Nigerian not to contest election. Buhari has the right to contest election.
He is a Nigerian citizen. There is no age limit. In some countries I have seen a 93-year-old contesting for election and Buhari is only 73 years old. There is also something I feel very sad about: sycophants. Buhari should beware of sycophants asking him to run again. Some people say the only person who can rule Nigeria is Buhari, they say they are calling on him to contest, that if he doesn’t contest, there will be no Nigeria.
I have heard somebody say that if Buhari doesn’t contest, they will go to court to get an injunction to make him run; these are cronies. I advise him not to listen to them. Buhari is a friend and I appreciate his efforts especially in fighting corruption. I know his effort during his first time when he fought indiscipline, but there is no doubt about it that things are hard.
Anybody who goes to tell him that things are normal is deceiving him.
“[Buhari’s] government has done very well; before they came, the insurgents were expanding, they bombed Abuja. Now, government has been able to contain them to the North-East; so it is not fair for anybody to say this government has not done well. Having said this, a battle such as this cannot be easily won and government must find a new strategy to win the battle. We have been told that ransom was paid in exchange for some of the Chibok girls, even though the information is not confirmed, and that this is very attractive to terrorist.
When they are broke they will look for soft targets; so what happened in Yobe is not different. The kidnapping in Chibok girls opened a new frontier of terrorism where people can now make money by kidnapping a whole school and girls become an attraction because they can marry them.
When Boko Haram started, they were putting up their flags; they are people looking for secession. I still remember the statement made by former Libyan leader Gadaffi at a point, he said Nigeria should be split into two countries, North and South, and I believe that most of the arms used by Boko Haram are coming from that direction. So I believe that this is a long term plan made to convert northern Nigeria to an Islamic republic.
But secession wars are not easy to win. And you cannot say it is a religious war because the people they are killing are Christians and Muslims. And government cannot fight this war without the cooperation of the people.”
