Buhari Confident of Victory in 2019 Election in Kano

Thu, Dec 7, 2017 | By publisher


Politics

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said he will still win an election in Kano State because of the overwhelming reception he got at the start of his two-day visit.

The president stated this on Tuesday when he paid homage to Muhammadu Sanusi II in his palace.

“I am overwhelmed by the reception the people of Kano offered to me. This has indicated that I can still win an election in Kano. The people of Kano are aware of the tremendous jobs we did on security and agriculture,” Buhari said.

According to him, his government had played significant roles in restoring peace and harmony in the northeast.

“We have recorded tremendous successes in our efforts to achieve the three agenda of my government; security, economy, and fight against corruption. Nigeria, Chad and Niger Republic have succeeded in crushing Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast. The countries have come together to fight a common goal because without peace and stability we cannot achieve anything,” he said.

President Buhari said the north is important to the country because “If there is peace and stability in the north, there will be peace and stability in the whole country and if there is a problem in the region it will affect the entire country.”

Buhari said he had seen a lot in politics since he joined it in 2003, adding that Nigerians must understand the difference between democratic and military administration. “When I was the military head of state, I have arrested many people and jailed them for alleged corruption and in the end, I also ended in a jail,” he said, lamenting that from 1999 to 2014, Nigeria got so much wealth which was misused.

“They squandered the money and we still don’t have a constant power supply, no good education for our children and we don’t have good hospitals and roads,” he said.

He observed that “Kano Emirate Council has contributed a lot to my life. Whatever I become in my life, I always consult the Kano Emirate Council.”

Buhari also pardoned 500 inmates in Kano and donated undisclosed cash to them to start businesses. The inmates including men and women were selected from the Kurmawa Central Prison, Kano.

The 500 inmates were either pardoned or set free upon the payment of fines by the Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

“If we have people of 18 and 19 years in the prison, and there is no continuous training, then their lives will be completely destroyed. We will invest more in education and vocational training,” he said.
The 500 inmates granted pardon, including men and women were drawn from various prisons in Kano state, including Kurmawa prison, which has 1,398 inmates as opposed to 750, the established capacity.

Also, Buhari inaugurated a multi-billion naira 500-bed Giginyu Ultramodern Hospital in Kano. He urged other governors to emulate their Kano counterpart Abdullahi Umar Ganduje by executing more people-oriented projects in their states.

Before the inauguration, Buhari noted that Governor Ganduje was executing the agenda of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, in the state through execution of projects that had a direct impact in the lives of the electorate.

“The APC change is real and is for all Nigerians irrespective of their beliefs, tribe, ethnic and or party differences. The APC change agenda is working in Kano. I’m highly impressed with what Governor Ganduje is doing in Kano.”

“I am urging other states governors to emulate Ganduje by executing similar projects in their states. I’m proud to see this kind of gigantic project executed for the people of Kano. I commended Ganduje for trying to make life easier for Kano People,” Buhari said.

In his remarks, Ganduje said, “I must confess that this hospital construction was started 10 years ago by another administration and as part of my cardinal principle of continuity, the present administration continued from where it stopped. And today we are here to commission it after completing it.”

Ganduje explained that the Giginyu hospital cost his administration over N4 billion, while that of Zoo road gulped over N3 billion. He said the funds covered completion of all unfinished structure and provision of equipment and other hospital facilities to the two hospitals.

Reacting, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said the president lacked any quality to be reelected. Dayo Adeyeye, national publicity secretary,  PDP said Buhari has failed on his campaign promises.

“I do not agree with him (Buhari). The APC led government has nothing to show that would warrant them a second term,” Adeyeye told our reporter last night by telephone.
He said most Nigerians were hungry as a result of Buhari government’s “non-performance.”
He said the PDP would meet and defeat Buhari in the field in 2019, if his party, the APC grants him the ticket for a second term.

Similarly, Abdullahi Jalo, former deputy national publicity secretary of the PDP,  said the circumstances that led to Buhari’s emergence in 2015 were different, stressing that Nigerians have seen that the APC government cannot put food on their table and would dislodge the APC in order forDe the PDP to take over power at the centre. – NewsRangersDe

– Dec 7, 2017 @ 8:30 GMT |

Tags: