₦airaland Forum

Titilayodeji13:
IN all my years of studying elections, I have never
seen a campaign as bogus as that of
Muhammadu Buhari. It is amazing that, for a man
who is running for election as president for a
marathon fourth time, Buhari is so bereft of ideas
as to how he would do anything if he were to
become president. Campaigning in 35 states,
Buhari has spoken for a total of less than 60
minutes in all. Surely, he wants to be president;
but he clearly has no presidential agenda. Buhari’s blueprint for the presidency is similar to
his Cambridge/WASC certificate; it is yet to be
discovered. It is an article of faith of things hoped
for by his admirers, the evidence of things neither
seen nor articulated. No man becomes president
of Nigeria on the basis of vain platitudes. No man
becomes president as a result of social media
blogs and soundbites. No man becomes president
by giving two-minute speeches in craftily-
packaged rallies, one minute of which is spent
introducing his entourage.
Empty promises
What would Buhari do differently to fight Boko
Haram? He would study the situation and restore
morale to the military. What would he do to
restore the economy? He would increase the
international price of oil single-hahnded. What
would he do to create jobs? He would build
interstate highways in the middle of a drastic
slump in Nigeria’s income in order to energise
motor-mechanics and bukaterias.
Buhari says: “I will revive and reactivate our
minimally performing refineries to optimum
capacity.” How does he propose to do this? “I will
provide one meal a day for children in public
primary schools.” Where is the money to do this?
“I will generate, transmit and distribute electricity
on a 24/7 basis whilst simultaneously ensuring
the development of sustainable/renewable energy
by 2019.” Is he now going to nationalise the
GENCOS and the DISCOS?
“I will make direct cash transfer of 5,000 naira to
the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable
citizens, if they immunize children and enrol them
in school.” My o my! Did Buhari do the maths
before coming out with this pie in the sky? This
amounts to a 125 billion naira handout; nearly
equal to the entire annual income of Edo State.
Style without substance
Goodluck Jonathan’s APC opponents like to
denigrate him as “clueless.” But what shall we say
of Muhammadu Buhari, a general who did not
know the name of his running-mate; calling him
Yemi Osunbade instead of Yemi Osinbajo. Buhari
referred to Imo State as Ibo State. In an interview
on CNN, he called INEC the Independent Nigerian
Electoral Commission. He also called his party the
All Progressives Confidence. No wonder President
Jonathan observed that Buhari cannot remember
his own phone-number.
Let’s face it: General Buhari has become an
embarrassment to the APC. He should not be
allowed to become a Nigerian embarrassment. An
absent-minded old man is not the kind of person
we need as president. Electing Buhari amounts to
jumping from the frying-pan into the fire.
Buhari’s campaign elevates make-believe over
reality. It asserts the primacy of propaganda over
commonsense. It proclaims the superiority of
fiction over facts. Buhari and the APC need to be
told some home-truths. You don’t build roads by
attacking Goodluck Jonathan. You don’t create
jobs by attacking the PDP. You don’t destroy the
Boko Haram by undermining the authority of the
commander-in-chief of the armed forces. You
don’t proclaim a mantra of anti-corruption
slogans, while being surrounded and funded by
corrupt politicians.
Shouting change changes nothing. Change is
championed by the young, and not by a 72 year-
old retired soldier receiving cheers from a coterie
of dyed-in-the-wool political dinosaurs. How can
Buhari represent change from the PDP, when a
large chunk of his change-sloganising APC
members are poached PDP turncoats? How does
Buhari’s endorsement by Obasanjo, a former PDP
president, commend him as an agent of change
from the PDP?
Counterfeit change
Instead of change, Buhari’s agenda is the “same
old same old” of the mundane and the sub-
standard. I challenge APC supporters to point out
one; just one, single original idea that has
emanated from him. The truth is that it does not
exist. Buhari is the master of the fluff and the
bluster. He will fight corruption, but he cannot
say how. He will revive the economy, but cannot
say how. He will end the Boko Haram insurgency
in no time at all, but he cannot say how.
In effect, Buhari is asking Nigerians to elect him
on the basis of some voodoo that he will only
concoct after the election. Nigerians should not
fall for this ploy. Buhari is an old has-been:
banking on the forgetfulness of Nigerians and on
our disregard for history. The APC has spent far
more time strategizing on how to manipulate
public opinion than on policy-formulation. Its
manifesto is shallow and phony; a very poor
cousin to Goodluck Jonathan’s well-articulated
and unfolding transformation agenda.
On the basis of his performance in office,
President Jonathan has done much better than
any of his predecessors. His legacy is there for all
to see in agriculture, aviation, road construction,
education, health (especially Guinea Worm, Polio
and Ebola eradication), railways, electricity and
political reform through the National Conference.
Those who are insisting he should not be given a
second-term need to come up with cogent
reasons why we need to change the stewardship
of an economy recording one of the highest
growth-rates in the world.
No wonder therefore that Buhari is running away
from a presidential debate. His reticence confirms
the view that he has nothing concrete to offer.
Every excuse he and his handlers come up with
only further exposes their vacuity. One thing is
for sure; Buhari cannot agree to a debate
because his campaign is all smoke and mirrors.
Chartham house
Indeed, nothing exemplifies the bankruptcy of the
APC presidential campaign more than the
decision of Buhari to deliver a vapid speech in
London, rather than engage Jonathan in a
presidential debate in Nigeria. I am still looking
for someone to explain to me the relevance of
Buhari’s London junket to a Nigerian presidential
election. Britons don’t vote in Nigerian elections.
Even Nigerians living abroad don’t vote. So what
was the point of that charade?
Instead of giving a speech at the Nigerian
Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, Buhari
chose the Royal Institute of International Affairs,
in far-away London. Nevertheless, nobody would
mistake Buhari for a scholar. The APC
presidential candidate has never written a book.
He does not even have an article in a journal or
newspaper to his name. We have yet to sort out
the nagging issue of his missing school-leaving
certificate. Indeed, his trip might have made more
sense if it had involved a dash to Cambridge to
secure a bona fide copy of his fictitious 1961
WASC results.
Buhari’s Chartham House speech was
intellectually empty. It was full of bells and
whistles signifying absolutely nothing. There was
nothing newsworthy in it. It only made the news
abroad because there was protest against him in
the streets. From beginning to end, his speech
was a flimsy rationalization of his dubious
transition from dictator to democrat; and from
coup-plotter against democracy, to presidential
candidate in a democratic election.
Buhari is certainly not a Maitama Sule or a
Barack Obama. By no stretch of the imagination
can he be called an orator. His delivery was poor
and laboured. His heavily-accented diction
mutilated the English language, as usual. It did
not help that he read his prepared text word-for-
word; scarsely looking up at his audience. It is
too late now to advise his handlers that he
should have been hidden behind tele-prompters.
Questions begging for answers
There were elephants in the room at Chartham
House; nagging questions begging for answers.
How would Buhari react as president if a military
coup were to be undertaken against his
government? Would he accept this in good faith,
since he was also guilty of the same offence? The
truth of the matter is that, as a former coup-
plotter, Buhari does not have the moral right to
seek election as president under a democratic
dispensation.
How can he justify jailing Odumegwu Ojukwu in
1984, even though Ojukwu did not hold any
political office? How can he justify jailing
septuagenarian Pa Michael Ajasin, an honest and
upright governor of Ondo State that did not steal
any public funds? How can he justify seizing
Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s passport, thereby
preventing the old man from seeking medical
attention abroad; while he sent his own wife and
children for medical treatment in the United
States?
How can he justify killing Nigerians for
committing a crime that did not attract the death
penalty when they committed it? How can he
justify the jailing of journalists, even for writing
truthful reports? Buhari is determined to avoid
addressing such probing questions. But such
questions are precisely what a political campaign
is designed to answer. Frankly, Buhari’s past
record is malicious and indefensible. He can keep
running away from it, but he cannot hide from it.
Questionable health
One question was answered fulsomely at
Chartham House: Buhari does not have the good
health or stamina required for the job of
president. After campaigning for barely one
month, he needed a long rest in London. He
literally disappeared for two weeks to recharge
his batteries, bang in the middle of an election
campaign. This is nothing short of bizarre. A man
who cannot withstand the rigours of a one-month
presidential campaign is not fit to be president of
Nigeria.
Ekiti governor, Ayo Fayose, put it succinctly: “A
man who campaigned for four weeks, speaking
for less than one hour in all the rallies put
together and needed to rest for 15 days should
just stay at home and be playing with his
grandchildren rather than struggling to take up a
job that he does not have the required mental
and physical strength to do.”
When Buhari finally returned back home, APC was
foolish enough to organise a so-called One Million
Man March (attended by barely one hundred
thousand people) in Lagos; when it knew its
presidential candidate was too old to march.
Buhari was glaringly absent from the event. To
use the local expression, “he was nowhere to be
found.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/why-buhari-will-not-agree-to-a-debate-with-jonathan/

queensmith:
must we nationalise everything? Why are these guys in uniform?

Khalessi:
You mean politicalize

Maccoy1:
Seriously this guy needs to be sacked, INEC was no where near in terms of preparation, but he came out nd openly said the election should go ON...millions were yET to get their PVC Nd he said all d Pvcs have been given to the states whereas some PVCs just arrived at some local government this week....

MizMyColi:
This guy and his obsession with prostitutes sha!

BERNIMOORE:
An alleged ''untitled audio evidences'' namely 'secret meeting audio' or 'rigging audio' untitled audios at its best

the aim of the audio was to establish a refference point and an avenue to 'shut up' and Targetted at PDP keymen's removal of; Gov Fayose and disqualification of Musiliu Obanikoro among others

Taking into consideration Gov Fayose and Musiliu Obanikoro dennied ever partaking in any rigging, to worsen the case, when i listened to the audio, there was not even a mention of the work 'rig' or 'rigging' throghout the clip and further render the audio clip invalid and without substance of valid evidence apart from forcing 'rigging on the tape through sentimental opinion' and that takes lots of interpretation which the court is the only avenue it can be trashed out, opinions on the issue is vioded!



besides, the alledged audiotape came too late and at best dead on arrival, why?

The 'writ of summons' and 'statement of claims' of the APC at the tribunal/court 'did not include the audio tape' neither does it included in the tribunal/court pleadings in anywaywhatsoever ab-initio or (from the begining) and so both appeal court and supreme court are not empowered to admit new evidences outside the 'writ' or earlier claims and 'pleadings.

http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/02/16/court-of-appeal-upholds-fayoses-victory/

The opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, had approached the court of appeal challenging the decision of the Ekiti state Governorship Election Petition [b]Tribunal which sat and affirmed the Governor’s victory in Abuja last December.

Sgt Koli was reportedly paid off by APC after the job and he relocated smilling to bank with hundred of millions APC governors donations while their state are heavily owing workers

Sgt Koli did a bad job and yet got paid hugely, Obanikoro's appointment was to stall his impact in delivering lagos to PDP, the audio clip failed to nail him
Ayo Fayose won his Appeal after the audio was released, this further rubished the audio as irrelevant

can seagent Koli just return some of the millions to APC and apologise for a shabby job he did and yet dupe the APC, i doubt!

Trailblazer1:
I almost took the comment serious until I realised that it was made by the diaper wearing lai mohammed

HisSexcellency:
After just 1month of political campaign & 58 minutes speech, Baba went for 15 days rest in London. Lets wait & see, Yaradua still on my mind

GboyegaD:
I do hope and pray he is however, talking about 2nd term now for me seems like placing the cart before the horse.

GboyegaD:
He should first be elected and perform in office before we talk about 2nd term. No need placing the cart before the horse.

joseph1832:
Midolian! I hope say you no miss road oh! Wetin do politics section now?

MOG1D1:
[s][/s]

Face front abeg

midolian:
Do you think Nigeria is matured enough to organise a free and fair election that can unseat an incumbent President?

Unseating a very serious incumbent President could be difficult. A government that has showcased very important development, and you want to unseat it, that would present a very difficult task. But, for a government such as this, led by this incumbent President, to unseat it, it will be as easy as pie. Nigerians from every zone and even with varying opinions have come to term with the reality that never again can they invest their trust in the present leadership of the ruling PDP. That is why the clamour for change has gathered huge momentum. Nothing will stop this PDP government from leaving, no matter who is on the saddle of leadership, nothing will stop the government of PDP from going on March 28.