The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Friday urged Nigerians to vote out President Muhammadu Buhari in order to ensure national unity and security.
According to him, Nigeria needs a president who will unite all parts of the country, respect national character, grow local businesses and support entrepreneurial skills.
Speaking in Owerri, the Imo State capital, while meeting with the stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the October 6 presidential primaries of the PDP, Saraki said Nigeria had never been so divided in ethnicity, politics and religion.
Describing himself as the right person to lead Nigeria in the next political dispensation, the former governor of Kwara State said that poverty, loss of job opportunities and hardship were currently on the increase in the country.
Saraki said, “By the grace of God, I will emerge the PDP presidential candidate. My desire is not just an ambition. Nigeria has never been this divided. People are afraid to be called Nigerians. Ethnicity and religion have taken over. There is no inclusion anymore, no fairness, no federal character, no job and businesses are dying. Survival of businesses is survival of the country. Poverty is everywhere.”
He said that if not for God and the masses, Buhari would have ensured his removal as the president of the senate three years ago.
Saraki said, “I will continue to fight for the masses. We have to change the leadership. We need a leadership that would ensure justice and fair distribution of national appointments. As a president, I will ensure everybody has food on the table. I will restore global reputation. Countries are built by hard work and vision.”
“The South-East people are hardworking and their entrepreneurial spirit is wonderful. As a president, I will partner South-East to emerge the next tiger of business in Africa. You don’t build what you don’t have. I therefore appeal to the delegates to vote wisely.
“We must change Buhari with a man that has capacity, integrity and vision in order to realise our potential. I believe in restructuring that would give states opportunities to realise their potentials. I promoted made-in-Aba products. As a President, I will support local businesses. We need to have a president that will ensure prosperity; nobody wants a handout.”
He, however, called on the people of the state to support Senator Samuel Anyanwu to emerge as the governor of the state, in order to ensure infrastructure development in the state.
“I’m committed to the development of the South-East because it is in the best interest of Nigeria. You need the president that has the youthfulness, the energy to deliver.”
A political associate of Saraki and member of the Senate, Senator Dino Melaye, urged the crowd to replace Buhari with Saraki, saying, “APC is dead in Imo State and in Nigeria.”
The Chairman of the PDP in Imo State, Charles Ezekwem, said the Igbo were interested in a presidential candidate that would restructure the country and create an additional state in the South-East.
Ezekwem said, “I have seen everything positive in Saraki. His defection gave the PDP the chances of clinching the position of the president in the next election.
“Igbo want restructuring and fairness. Saraki has the capacity, strength, pedigree and academic background to move Nigeria forward.”
