On Monday, President Muhammadu
Buhari announced that he will be seeking a second term in office.
He made the public declaration
while meeting with the national executive committee of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Abuja.
The president said he is seeking
re-election because of the “clamour by Nigerians”.
Prior to the public declaration,
some Nigerians publicly canvassed against the president’s re-election bid.
Here are five of the figures who
left no stone unturned in driving home their message against Buhari’s
presidency come 2019.
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO
The former president could have
been instrumental to the election of Buhari in 2015 through his unbridled
endorsement, but that has not stopped him from wielding his lethal letter
writing skills against the president.
On January 23, Obasanjo wrote a
strongly-worded letter to Buhari, asking him to forget about the 2019 election.
In the ‘letter bomb’, the Owu chief said the president had performed below
expectation.
He wrote, “The lice of poor
performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management,
nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright
encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national
cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening
inequality – are very much with us today.”
AYODELE FAYOSE
Fayose, governor of Ekiti state,
is a foremost critic of Buhari and he would never hold back his emotions when
it comes to criticising the president. Some see him as the strongest voice of
the opposition.
While reacting to Obasanjo’s
letter to Buhari, Fayose described the letter writer and its recipient as
“expired” leaders and that both leaders have “outlived their usefulness” to
Nigeria. At another time, he said those who voted for the president in the 2015
general election ought to beg God for forgiveness.
FEMI FANI-KAYODE
Fani-Kayode, former aviation
minister, has written a myriad of letters and articles to lampoon the Buhari
presidency. Recently, he claimed that the $1bn approved by the president for
the procurement of security equipment to fight Boko Haram insurgency will be
used to fund his 2019 re-election campaign. He appealed to Nigerians to vote
against Buhari.
IBRAHIM BABANGIDA
The former military president
asked Nigerians to co-operate with President Buhari until his tenure ends — but
vote for a new generation of leaders in 2019. On February 4, in a statement
titled “Towards a national rebirth”, he said the 2019 elections offer “a unique
opportunity for Nigerians.”
Babangida, who overthrew Buhari
in 1985 and ruled till 1993, said: “In the fullness of our present realities,
we need to cooperate with President Muhammadu Buhari to complete his term of
office on May 29th, 2019 and collectively prepare the way for new generation
leaders to assume the mantle of leadership of the country. While offering this
advice, I speak as a stakeholder, former president, concerned Nigerian and a
patriot who desires to see new paradigms in our shared commitment to get this
country running.
ANGO ABDULLAHI
Abdullahi, spokesperson of the
Northern Elders Forum, has described as corrupt act the recent endorsement of
the president for a second term by the APC governors.
On March 24, he led a coalition
of northern groups to pass a vote of no confidence on President Buhari and
other northern politicians, saying they have failed the region.
OLUBUNMI OKOGIE
In January, the archbishop
emeritus of the Catholic archdiocese of Lagos, advised Buhari to respect
himself and retire quietly.
The fiery cleric who has rated
the current administration low said it is an insult to Nigerians for the
president to be talking about 2019 election. He advised Buhari to be thinking
of finding solutions to the problems confronting Nigerians.
“What has he done in the years he
had been in the saddle? He has performed woefully; that’s the verdict of
Nigerians,” Okogiehad said.
“Let the president respect
himself and retire quietly. Coming out to talk of 2019 is insulting not only to
those who voted him to power but to all Nigerians. There are so many problems
confronting the people and he should be thinking of what to do about them. For
second term, he must be a joker.”
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