A Chieftain of the newly registered
APC Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on Tuesday said the new party was
determined to push out the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in 2015.
“The APC is focus-driven to push the
PDP out of power by 2015,” Buhari told members of the Democratic Emancipation
Movement who paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.
But the PDP said on Tuesday that
Buhari, who ruled Nigeria as a military Head of State between 1983 and 1985,
was day-dreaming.
“There is no way the APC can win the
election in 2015. He (Buhari) is day-dreaming,” Acting National Publicity
Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Tony Okeke, said in reaction to the ex-Head of State
boast.
Buhari contested the presidential
election on the platforms of two political parties in 2003, 2007 and 2011 and
lost to the PDP candidates in all.
In the 2003 and 2007 elections, he
was the candidate of the All Nigeria Progressive Party against PDP’s Olusegun
Obasanjo and Umaru Yar’Adua respectively. In 2011, he contested against
incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan on the platform of the Congress for
Progressive Change, now a third of the new APC.
The APC is the product of a merger of
CPC, ANPP and the Action Congress of Nigeria.
But Buhari said whether he would run
in the 2015 poll or not would depend on whether the APC wanted him or not.
“My decision will be tied to the
constitution of the APC. If the party chooses me as its candidate, I will
contest. If the members do not consider me, I will not contest but I will still
support the party. My decision to run for 2015 will solely be that of the
party,” Buhari said.
He said that the APC would give
Nigerians a new lease of life and hope that would make the country rank top in
the comity of nations.
He also lauded the nation’s electoral
umpire the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for mustering the
courage to register APC.
The former Head of State noted that
he had thought of a merger of political forces to wrest power from the PDP in
2007.
He admitted that in the past, the
opposition parties in the country had made mistakes because “we made ourselves
vulnerable.”
He added that for the country to
survive, the main opposition parties had to come together to wrest power from
the PDP.
Buhari said, “I thought about this
merger in 2007. This is because I found out that none of the opposition parties
can challenge PDP successfully. But if we come together with those that have
representation at the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly and go back
to sensitise our constituencies, even if the PDP want to rig they would find it
impossible to rig.
“I discovered that by being so
divisive, we made ourselves very vulnerable. So, the best way to survive and
for this country to stabilise we just have to come together and I believe,
along the line, we made necessary sacrifices.
“The tension in the country has
already come down; people now think that they have a viable alternative. These
feelings and belief is across the country, not only in the North or in the
South-West. There is a good feeling about the party in all the political zones
of the country.
“Our next important step is the
mobilisation of constituencies to make sure that elections are conducted
according to the law.
The ex-Head of State lauded the
Independent National Electoral Commission for registering the APC.
He said, “To be honest, we have to
thank INEC because when we thought we had applied according to the 2010
Electoral Act, INEC drew our attention to the Electoral Act provision
that said that there must be a headquarters at the federal capital that is good
enough to be called headquarters of a national party. Then there was the issue
of our constitution, our manifesto, and the harmonisation of the main three
parties.
“We thought that the initial nine
signatories were enough to manage the party on the interim between registration
and convention, but INEC advised us and told us that we needeed to get between
at least 25 or 35 people to come out from the whole geopolitical zones to sign.
“If INEC wanted to be wicked, they
could have kept mute and just sent us a letter that our application was not
complete. They could have done that. But for them to send us an observation
which was later corrected, I believe they have been very impartial and we thank
them for that.”
Buhari’s optimism about the APC
notwithstanding, the PDP said the new party was incapable of winning in 2015.
Okeke said, “Nigerians have realised
that the PDP is the only political party that has their interest at heart. The
APC on the other hand is merely lusting for power and that its members don’t
have the interest of Nigerians at heart.
“The APC is a party of despots,
dictators who love to impose candidates on the people. Nigerians are tired of
such people.”
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Pdp is a failure.......APC is our messaiah.....for me and my families we are porting to APC!!!I don port go APC
ReplyDeleteMake una no fall our hand ooooO.anyway I trust u guys pass pdp.
Na tru talk apc go win some cancllo for Kano,useless dreamers make una open eye,hw is it posible?
ReplyDeleteTell us what and what you will do differently when you become president. We need attitudinal change not political change. I see no difference between the PDP and APC. APC has no agender. APC should build their track records first. They should start by developing the LGAs under them well before thinking of running the country. Mr Bright(Abuja) brigtoibe@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteBuhari-Boko haram is singing praises for INEC now,If he looses election,Inec will become impatial,tens and thousands of corpers will pay with their innocent bloods.Demon in human clothing,we tend to forget a lot.the blood of the innocent youth corpers killed by Buhari will not allow him to have peace even with the new APC Amen
ReplyDeleteGo APC!Go APC! Go! I can only say "watch out for strange bedfellows". Watch out for PDP wolves who'll pretend to be lambs only to show their true colours in 2015.Be true to your words, have the genuine interest of the people @ heart and God will crown APC in 2015.
ReplyDeleteBuhari dead man walkin
ReplyDelete