A former Head of State, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has finally declared his interest in contesting the Presidency in 2015.
Addressing volunteers and representatives of the Buhari Support Groups, in Abuja on Tuesday, he said the most important task before members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was to snatch power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Today, we are in the 15th year of the purposeless leadership by the PDP and all that we have seen is the unprecedented deterioration in the country’s security situation,” he said.
Buhari listed other infractions of the PDP-led administration to include astronomical rise in the incidence and intensity of corruption, and in the failure of governance.
He urged party supporters to take advantage of the time remaining before the elections to concentrate their efforts on achieving positive change for the country.
Buhari said, “The only way to meaningful change in this country is to vote the PDP out of the power to which it was never legitimately elected anyway.
“The task before us today is wide ranging and very great. The first and most important is to take away power from those who have been misusing it.
“Indeed, except for the call of patriotism, public-spiritedness and an abiding love for the people of this country, nothing will today make any honest, honourable and sane politician want to be saddled with Nigeria’s leadership with an economy in trouble and a society in deeper trouble.”
He wondered whether there was really a government in Nigeria.
According to him, the opposition has made all the necessary preparations to take away power from the “inept ruling party.”
He equally noted that the coming together of hitherto fragmented opposition political parties to form one formidable party, the APC, would give the ruling PDP a run for its money.
While offering himself to undertake the task of leading the party to victory in the 2015 Presidential election, Buhari told his supporters, “With your support, I intend to offer myself for the position of the President of the Republic on the platform of our great party.”
The former military dictator promised to make a formal declaration “soon.”
He also appealed to his supporters to extend their support beyond his person but much more for the party.
Buhari equally charged them to remember that the “APC is a party with several qualified people for each and all the positions that will be contested, including that of the President.”
He noted that it was the party primaries that would determine who would eventually get the APC ticket.
The aspirant further said he expected his supporters to redouble their efforts and commitment until the party won the Presidency.
He, however, said in the event that another aspirant won the party’s nomination, he would expect his supporters to support the winner.
While appealing for vigilance, Buhari urged them not to take the laws into their hands no matter the level of provocation.
However, the PDP has described Buhari as a distraction.
The party said this while replying to a speech made by Buhari, who is a presidential aspirant in the APC, while addressing volunteers and representatives of Buhari Support Groups in Abuja on Tuesday.
In his reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said that it was unfortunate that Buhari would be talking the way he did when he refused to fix the economy as head of state.
He said instead of making unfounded allegations, Buhari should go and prepare for the APC presidential primary, saying the ruling party would continue to pray for him to win the APC ticket.
Metuh said, “He was a former head of state. While in office, he was not distracted as he was allowed to work, but he refused to fix the economy and other problems bedevilling the country.
“He is a distraction. Nigerians would not and cannot be deceived. We are advising him to go and get prepare for his party’s primary. We wish him well.”
