Pro-democracy activist and Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State, Comrade Shehu Sani, has described the government of President Goodluck Jonathan as an affliction on the people of Nigeria in the last six years.
Sani who spoke at a sensitisation workshop organised by the Buhari/Osinbajo Youths Support Groups as well as the Proud Talakawa Movement (PTM), at the Yar’Adua centre Abuja on Monday, pointed out that in the last 16 years of Jonathan’s government, the country has witnessed massive looting of public treasury as well as mass murder of innocent citizens.
According to him, “For the past 16 years, it has been the case of waste, of corruption, of mass murder of innocent citizens by the ineptitude and incompetence of the ruling party. From the side lines, as a private citizen, I did my very best to see how we could bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgency. That informed my decision in September 2011 to visit some Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We have all done our best. But it is very clear that the obstacle to ending this insurgency is Jonathan’s government. It had reached a point where I told the Boko Haram people to stop calling my phone because we were completely frustrated out. There was no interest on the side of the government to end the insurgency.
“We all have a stake in democratic government .we have done all these because we believe that Nigeria can be great again. I don’t have to stand here and sing the praises of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari because he lives in Kaduna like me. So we leave those praises.
“But we know his potentialities and what he is capable of doing for Nigeria. But we should also know that he is not an Abraham Lincoln who will be contesting election every day. We have to do all we can, on the 28 of March. We have made that very clear in Kaduna, to the sitting Vice-President, that the 3.1million registered voters in Kaduna are prepared to be killed.
“The Jonathan administration is an affliction. It is a course on Nigeria. They have looted over $45billion in the last six years he served as a President. Over 65,000 Nigerians have been killed. We have seen how a government openly supported terrorism. They keep giving oil pipeline contracts to the Tom Polos, Asari Dokubos, to the Ganiu Adams and so on”.
He advised the youths and all Nigerian electorates to be vigilant and ensure that their votes count during the elections, pointing out that “The World is waiting for Nigeria to reclaim its place of honour. And I believe that a vote for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will provide a focus, a new hope for our country”.
Speaking earlier, Professor Babalola Borisade who represented former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as Chairman of the occasion, asked the participants to do all they can, to protect the change that is coming. He argued that the fact that the ruling party in Nigeria has been doing everything possible to prevent the election from holding, is an admittance of failure.
The event was put together by several youth groups of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The organizers took to the streets in the Federal Capital Territory, educating Nigerians, especially the youths and women on how to cast their votes for the candidate of their party, General Mohammadu Buhari.
Spokesman of the youths, Barrister Emmanuel Sawyer, told journalists during the rally which started from the APC national secretariat on Monday in Abuja, that his group in conjunction with women, had taken to the streets to ensure that Nigerian youths and women come out en-mass and vote right for APC presidential candidate.
Barrister Sawyer said: “We have noticed that all over the world it is the women, and youth that suffer from bad governance. And if there is problem during elections, it is we that suffer. That is why we are now educating all members of the public. Even the elders that they should ensure that they come out and vote for a better Nigerian.
“If you look at what happened in the past six years, the Nigerian youths have suffered more. We cannot list them, but let us start from the immigration job scam. The federal government came out and extorted N1000 from us and they made billions from that job application. The Senate president wife is involved and the First Lady of the federation, but nothing has been done and the minister is still sitting in his position. Is this a sane country?
He said his group has gone down to the rural areas especially to those people that don’t know the Logo and how to vote.
“We have also given them the issue of cleaning their fingers after they vote so that they will not touch another party’s Logo. And we are also holding a seminar today at the Yar’adua center to tell the world and everybody that they should come out and vote rightly. We have samples of the voters cards to show them how to vote.”
Also speaking, National coordinator of Buhari/Osinbajo Youths Support and the Proud Talakawa Movement (PTM) Chief Anuchukwu Godwin, said what his group was insisting is that “our votes should count. And if they rig the elections, of which they have the pedigree to, we will meet in court. We are not a violent people but we are agitating that our votes must count. This time Buhari has won. We are celebrating before the victory, and we will celebrate after the victory”
