BEVERLY HILLS, January 24, (THEWILL) – Reactions have trailed the statement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo urging President Muhammadu Buhari not to run for second term in 2019.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Obasanjo had urged the President not to seek re-election, saying he has performed below par since assuming office saying poverty and insecurity have worsened in the country.
He also accused him of poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, and condonation of misdeed.
Reacting to the development, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the statement as courageous, timely and patriotic adding that the advice had vindicated its position on President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement in Abuja, however rejected the call by Obasanjo for the emergence of a third force, saying that such would amount to repeating the same alleged blunder that brought in the APC and the Buhari Presidency which it said had wrecked havoc on the nation in its almost three years of governance.
“The solution does not lie in creating another political quicksand in a third force but consolidating on a rescue mission with the repositioned PDP which Nigerians have already embraced,” Ologbondiyan stated.
“Nigerians would recall that in the heat of 2015 elections, many citizens, who claimed to have become tired of the PDP and its government, opted for a coalition of strange bedfellows who he said had little or no experience in governance as a vehicle for electoral victory.
“Expectedly, in their confusion, they have plunged us into this regrettable situation that has brought our nation to its knees.
“Repeating the old mistake of congregating political strangers cannot help our nation at this time, more so, when the few concerns raised by the former President about the PDP no longer obtain under the refocused and rebranded PDP.
“The PDP is now standing on a truly democratic ground that perfectly represents and reflects the hopes and aspirations of all Nigerians irrespective of their class, creed or tribe.
“That is why our great party has now, more than ever before, become a centre of the new patriotic and broad-based engagements by well-meaning Nigerians and coalitions across the board, including past leaders, in rekindling our democratic process that places priority on returning power to the people.”
On its part, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the foremost northern socio-cultural group, declared that it is the prerogative of President Buhari to decide on whether or not to re-contest.
“The statement credited to former President Obasanjo that President Buhari should not run in the 2019 election, it is his democratic right to express his view like any other Nigerian on all issues, including democracy,” read the statement signed by Muhammad Biu, national publicity secretary of ACF.
“However, it is President Buhari’s prerogative and that of his party to decide on whether to re-contest or not.”
Also, Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), in his response, accused Obasanjo of hypocrisy for asking President Buhari not to seek re-election.
“I saw Obasanjo’s comments and I could not believe my eyes, that a man who tried to get a third term is discouraging someone else from getting a second term. It doesn’t make sense,” he told The Nation.
“I think Obasanjo should try and respect other people. He has achieved a lot. He is a great man and I respect him. But he should learn to respect other people and think of them as being, at least, as good as himself.
“I think it is insulting for a man who wanted third term to tell somebody else not to want second term. It is most inappropriate, and for a former head of state to say so is most improper.”
