The Arewa Youths Consultative
Forum, AYCF, has told President Muhammadu Buhari, not to seek re-election in
2019 presidential election.
The youth group said any
arrangement for Buhari to run in the next poll would be resisted.
Speaking with the Sun, President
of the AYCF, Yerima Shettima, who also hinted he may run for the presidential
election, urged Buhari to abandon his right to contest the 2019 presidential
election.
He said, “Honestly, the situation
is nothing to write home about and we cannot continue hoping that anything will
happen from now till the next one year.
“We cannot continue to imagine
that. That would assume we are living in imagination and the truth of the
matter is that from now until January what the government has been able to do
is what they can do for this tenure and I do not think that Nigerians are
prepared to be fooled for the second time.
“We cannot continue over and
over. We have come of age. We cannot continue to fold our hands and be
complaining. We must be in the mainstream. Most of them had the opportunity but
they could not do it well and I do not see them doing it better now at their
age.
“The truth is that our
expectations of this government have not been met.
“Everything they promised during
the campaign and in their manifesto. The reason why everybody sought for change
was that we thought this government will fight corruption tooth and nail
without considering whosoever is involved.
“But we have now realized that
the fight against corruption has become selective. Then two, the issue of
insurgency, leave it or take it, to us, as laymen this battle is not over. We
cannot or the government cannot justify the fact that we told Nigerians that
the fight against insurgency is over.
“Almost every day we have had
casualties. These are the two core issues. The third one on the campaign was
the issue of power. This is nothing to write home about even though the
Minister of Power told us that a responsible government should be able to fix
power within six months.
“That has not been achieved more
than two and a half years after. Now it is nothing to write home about; the
same thing with roads. Even the issue of petrol pump price is another one. We
were told during the campaign that immediately they resume office, fuel price
would go down to N40 per liter from N97 per litre.
“Now, a government that promised
this rather than keep to their promise raised the price astronomically. Now, it
is between 70 and 80 percent increase.
“That is giving us a lot of
concern. Certainly, whether you like it or not the government must take
responsibility and I have no doubt in my mind that between them and God who
created them they know they have failed Nigerians.
“And when people take
responsibility, then we will begin to forgive ourselves. If they beg for
forgiveness we can decide to overlook it and also forge ahead. But certainly,
never again will anybody make this mistake. Never.
“Honestly, the situation is nothing
to write home about and we cannot continue hoping that anything will happen
from now till the next one year. We cannot continue to imagine that.
“That would assume we are living
in imagination and the truth of the matter is that from now until January what
the government has been able to do is what they can do for this tenure and I do
not think that Nigerians are prepared to be fooled for the second time.
“We will insist that those above
60 do not come on board again and that our generation should stand firm to take
our destiny in our hands. We will jettison the issue of the difference in
ethnicity, religion and other mundane, divisive sentiments to insist on good
governance.
“We are enlightened and we know
exactly what we want. We constitute about 70 to 80 percent of the population
and if democracy is about numbers, we will achieve our aim.
“Even before Buhari, the North
has other people who we can vouch for their integrity who are not up to 60
years. I have no doubt in my mind there are. In fact, I am one.
Asked if he is also going to
contest, he added, “I may, I may not. But I am saying we have a lot of them. We
have a lot of people of my generation who can do better and who also have
integrity. Nobody can question the integrity of Muhammadu Buhari, but I am also
saying that governance cannot be single-handedly run in a country like Nigeria.
“We cannot also assume that he
alone can do the job. He does not have a team to go with, simply because they
took advantage of his ill-health or his age.”
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Hmmm. First, I cautioned Nigerians against buying into Buhari/Tinubu APC led change agenda in 2015 but they did not listen. Second, we all see that their ideas are only good on paper,full of theories, lies and deceits. Third, you have concluded that they have failed. Fourth, I have to say that their failure is not necessarily because of age. So, do not say people that are over sixty should not contest. My governor, Yahaya Bello of Kogi state is less than 43years but he is the worst governor and leader of any type in Nigeria since 1999 till date. David
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