SAN FRANCISCO, August 26, (THEWILL) – As the countdown to the 2015 general elections begins in earnest, Northern leaders have been told to forget about their presidential ambition.
Rather, they have been admonished to join other Nigerians in rallying support for President Goodluck Jonathan to fulfill his developmental blue print for the entire country.
An ex-militant leader, Preye John (aka, Gbikigbiki), chairman Delta State Third Phase Amnesty Camps Committee (TPACC), who gave the advice, warned the electorate to be wary of those he described as expired leaders who, according to him, are metamorphosing to deceive Nigerians out of desperation.
Preye also urged President Jonathan to compel his presidential adviser on amnesty programme ,Mr. Kingsley Kuku, to implement fully the documentation of disarmed ex-militant youths in the third phase amnesty programme, lamenting that the custodians of the programme have moved away t from its original plans.
He lamented that many disarmed youths in the third phase who were not captured in Warri and Yenagoa induction exercise , are still waiting for documentation.
” As ex-militants who have seen real money before accepting the amnesty programme, we cannot  be encouraged by this kind of demeaning and ill-fated treatment .We are roaming about in hunger, deepen in frustration and doubts as people. We need better treatment like our counterparts in phases I and II of the amnesty programme, with regards to timely documentation of our boys, and payment of monthly empowerment benefits to all generals in the third phase as they are currently doing to generals in phases I and II of the amnesty programme,” he said.
Describing the newly-registered All Progressives Congress (APC) as an ethnic, religious and regional political party with a myopic objectivity of shifting power from the south geopolitical zone to the north come 2015, he dismissed APC leaders as old wines metamorphosing in a new bottle,” saying with the civilisation in the country today, ethnic parties cannot make much impact in practical sense.
He maintained that since APC lacks grassroots support, it cannot be a threat to Jonathan or the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking with newsmen on behalf other ex-militants in his camps after a consultative/interactive meeting in Warri , Delta State, he said the north should respect other regions and tribes in the country and bury their face in shame over the country’s woes of their 35 years rule.
Gbikigbiki, who also warned Northern leaders who are spoiling for war to put Nigeria above their personal interest, said they should ensure that their children are in the war front when the time comes.
General Preye, who maintained that the north should not even bother to contest the 2015 election, advising the region to support others who have served the North in the past 35 years, said the northern leaders should stop making unnecessary noise on the pages of newspaper, maintaining that elections are not done on the pages of newspapers.
”The northern leaders are expired leaders who did not have the credibility to speak for Nigerians; they are only speaking their individual minds, as the electorate never asked them to speak for them.
”Northern leaders should not worry as they are birds of the same feather, Nigerians will speak for themselves when the time comes, because they are the greatest enemies of Nigerian unity and development with their ethnic and religious agenda, ” he said.
Assuring Nigerians of Jonathan’s victory in 2015, he said ex-militants will soon embark on a rally in Abuja to mobilise support for his second term bid.
