Buhari, during the inauguration of
the Congress for Progressive Change Merger Committee in Abuja on Wednesday, had
said the ongoing merger talks by the major opposition political parties would
determine if he would run for the presidency in 2015.
The Katsina State-born general, who
had earlier said he would not run for presidency in 2015, having failed to win
the election three times, said the merger might make him change his mind.
However Senior Special Assistant for
Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told one of our
correspondents on Friday that even if Buhari contested, he would not win the
election.
Okupe said even though the President
was not focused on the 2015 elections yet, Buhari’s ambition could not ruffle the
feathers of the Peoples Democratic Party, which Jonathan belongs to.
He said, “It is a free country and
anyone can contest any election. Also, anyone can change his or her mind. If
Buhari said he would not contest before and has changed his mind, he is free to
do that. But if someone said he would not contest and later said he would
contest, it shows an inconsistent political disposition.
“Buhari left government a long time
ago. His ideas and other parameters are archaic. I don’t think he stands a
chance to win the election in 2015 if he decides to contest.”
According to him, the ongoing merger
talks among the opposition parties were not capable of intimidating the ruling
party.
He said, “Mergers are not a new
thing. We have always had mergers in the political history of this country. But
you need to look at the components of this current merger they are talking
about. They are not a suitable alternative to the PDP. They have not shown
themselves to be suitable alternatives.”
Okupe stated that the PDP was superior
to all the parties in the merger talk.
“They don’t have superior programmes
or ideologies. They are not more credible than the PDP. They are not better
than the PDP. They don’t have a credible candidate that can beat PDP’s
candidate. It is obvious that the alliance between the parties will not
work.
“In fact, the merger is an acceptance
of inferiority complex on the part of the parties involved in the merger. If
you look at it critically, the merger is an apparent desire to win power at all
costs. It is not a proper desire.
“The merger shows that the political
parties involved in it lack political support and goodwill. It does not mean
the PDP will rest on its oars, we will keep working hard.”
Responding, the National Publicity
Secretary, CPC, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said Buhari was a threat to the PDP.
According to Fashakin, the
determination of the opposition parties to bring the merger into reality was a
threat to the dominance of the PDP.
He said, “For us in the CPC, we are
aware that the persons in charge of the presidency’s propaganda got their jobs
for the mendacious and utterly atrocious missive against the person of Buhari.
Truly, Buhari’s presence has been the major threat to the misrule of PDP in the
last 13 years. Successive PDP regimes have unleashed humongous deprivations on
the people.”
The CPC spokesman stated that
Buhari’s performance as military head of state was better when compared with
Jonathan’s.
“The 20-month era of strong leadership
espoused what later became known as ‘Buharinomics,’ which simply put, was an
admixture of frugality, probity, respect for contractual agreements, expunction
of all covert or overt attempts at subjugating the Nigerian economy to world
powers and above all, an economic policy with Nigeria as the centrepiece
“Gratefully, the cluelessness of this
present regime and its high propensity for opacity are already lifting the veil
off the people. The determination of the opposition parties to bring the merger
into reality shall ensure the defeat of the PDP in the next general elections.”
When contacted the spokesman for the ACN,
Mr. Lai Mohammed, for his comments, he said he would get back to our
correspondent, but had yet to do so when this report was filed.
Earlier, a member of the PDP Board of
Trustees, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, had said the merger plan by opposition
parties would not stop the PDP from emerging victorious in 2015 elections.
Iwuanyanwu described the move as one
that would neither pull PDP down nor succeed.
“As a democrat, I should sound a note
of warning, I have read recently about the coming together of some political
parties. They are not coming together on the basis of ideology. They are coming
together because they are afraid that unless they gang up, PDP will win the
elections in 2015. This is a wrong political calculation.
“I am in PDP, but I believe that
democracy is best practised when there is a very strong opposition. Democracy
without a strong opposition is worthless. They are making a mistake. They
should tell Nigerians what they can do to change situations, not how to pull
PDP down. This is wrong politics.”
The parties involved in the merger
have however accused the PDP of frustrating their plan.
Mohammed had said the merger plans
had driven the PDP-led Federal Government to resort to tactics aimed at
tarnishing the image of key opposition leaders.
“These opposition leaders are
considered as constituting a clear and present danger to the electoral fortunes
of the PDP in 2015, hence must be stopped at all costs and by whatever means,”
he said.
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Politics