Elders from the northern part of the country took President Muhammadu Buhari to the cleaners over his declaration to seek a second-term in office.
They were unanimous that president Muhammadu Buhari has performed woefully and as such his support base across the country has been decimated.
According to the National Chairman of the Northern Elders Council (NEC), Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, the declaration is no news, adding, “I wonder the type of magic that will make Buhari win re-election in 2019”.
He said, “at the height of his popularity the difference between him and Goodluck Jonathan was 2.5 million votes”, saying he is not likely to win.
Also reacting to the declaration, Second Republic lawmaker, Junaid Muhammed, said, Buhari is not trustworthy because “I remember during the campaign he promised to do only one tenure”.
He also alleged that Buhari and his supporters were planning to rig the election and plunge the country into turmoil.
According to him, “This announcement is very unfortunate, it is done in very bad fate and I think it will not do the country or the people any good because I believe politicians being what they are and he is nothing now more than a politician should be assessed by what they say.
“That is the only logical way to assess them, by what they say and what they do.
“He (Buhari)said severally during the campaign that he was not going to contest for a second-term. He also said he was going to do a number of things. He has failed woefully in any of the things he said he was going to do.
“He put up a cabinet that was a National and international scandal; he brought his relations, friends and cronies to the cabinet, none of whom is performing or has performed during the last three years.
“On the whole, he is the least competent, the least prepared person for the office of the president of this country. But he decided in spite of his non-performance to go in and contest.
“It is now clear to me and I believe to any right thinking Nigerian that his politics is all about himself, his nepotism, his cronyism of friends and relations.
“It is not about National interest because what he did in the last three years had nothing to do with National interest. So I don’t believe that another four years of Buhari post-2019 will do him or the country any good. We are likely to have more of the same and I can’t see him performing.
“It is left for Nigerians to speak their mind and when the time comes, to speak with their vote.
“I believe he is not going to be relying on the votes of Nigerians, I think the intention is to rig the election and throw the country into turmoil much more than the current turmoil of a failed Boko Haram fight, failed fight against corruption, against militants in the Niger Delta and a government that lacks any moral authority. He believes only in feathering the nest of his cronies and relations”.
On his part, Yakassai said, “The declaration is not a surprise to me, I have told you before now that if he said he is not going to contest I will be surprised. So I know he will do it.
“All we are waiting for is to see those that are going to contest against him, then we can now measure them. But certainly, the amount of support he enjoyed before is no longer there.
“What am wondering is that his party people and his supporters are saying he is going to win and I am wondering which magic they’re going to perform to make him win. I wonder why they are so sure that he is going to win.
“Definitely his support base is not like it is before, we don’t know what they are preparing for, but don’t forget that the margin between him and the former President Jonathan in 2015 was about 2.5 million votes and that was at the height of his popularity. He is not as popular as he used to be. He is not likely to win. His popularity is down now all over the country”.
