Cover, Featured
–
TONY Momoh, a veteran journalist and lawyer, is the man Friday of General Muhammadu Buhari, president candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He has been with the general for a long time, and was even the chairman of the Congress Progressive Change, CPC, platform on which Buhari contested in 2011. Now, a chieftain of the APC, Momoh has a strong belief that the March 28 and April 11 elections would be free, fair, transparent and peaceful because doing otherwise would be touching the tiger by the tail.
Momoh, a prince and the Yerima of Auchi is a politician of note. But he is not contesting for any political post. His interest rests on his deep-seated desire for national development and integration. He started his public service as a journalist at Daily Times and later served in various capacities. He was editor, Training Manager, general manager, Senior Manager, before being appointed minister of information and culture in 1986. He also served as chairman of the Board of Nigeria Airways and is a member of the Nigerian Press Council.
Momoh has been awarded many honours, including fellowships of the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and the Advertising Council of Nigeria. He is a patron of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria, and a holder of Selkyo Culture Award presented to him in Japan in recognition of his “great contribution to society” through his “consistent and valuable activities for the sake of the creation of peace and culture”.
A consummate letter writer during his tenure as information minister, Momoh was born on April 27, 1939 in Auchi, Edo State. He attended Government School Auchi, 1949 -1954, before proceeding to Anglican School Okpe, 1954. He later went to the Provincial Teachers Training College, Abudu, Edo State and Government Teachers College, Abraka, in the then Western Region, 1960-61, where he obtained his TC11. Momoh was also at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and University of Lagos, where he obtained degrees in Mass communication and Law.
Momoh is also an accomplished professional who has bestrode various professions like a colossus. Some of his professional accomplishments include membership of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, and Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ; Fellow of the Commonwealth Journalists Association, president, Nigeria Guild of Editors; member, International Press Institute; honorary fellow, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, and Honorary Fellow, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria.
He has many publications to his credit. Some of them include, ‘News of the Forgotten Army’, ‘Simple Strokes’, ‘Revolt of the new breed and other stories’ as well as ‘Each Man His Time.’
On Thursday, March 12, in a telephone conversation with Realnews for almost an hour, Momoh bared his mind on the coming elections. The down-to-earth detribalised Nigerian, spoke to Fidelia Salami, special correspondent, on how the change that the nation is clamouring for could be found in General Muhammadu Buhari as well as other national issues. Excerpts:
Realnews: There is the clamour for change in Nigeria now. And the man behind the change is General Muhammadu Buhari. As an All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain, could you speak on his anti-corruption stance?
Momoh: There is no way someone with a particular way of life can change that way of life without being affected or influenced by the components of government. Put straight, someone who is used to cutting corners cannot default from cutting corners. More put straight forwardly, someone who is corrupt cannot effectively fight corruption. And when we talk of anti-corruption battle in Nigeria, the person most competent to do it, I am not saying others are not competent, is General Buhari. Among those people who are there in the purpose scene today, he is the most competent. Why? He has been through all positions in his career that would have made him make billions of naira that some other people who occupied such position did. He does not have, as at now, when you look back, even up till now, he does not have a foreign account. He does not have any house in any foreign country. He does not have a house in Abuja.
And yet, he has occupied all positions in his career. In the military, he was the head of transport and supply in the army, which is a billion naira job. He did not make money. He promoted three of the four divisions of the Nigerian army and he was the only one who did it. As the governor of North-East, now six states in the North-East, he did not embezzle money as governor.
He was minister of petroleum and was involved in the building of the two refineries and in all the refineries in Nigeria; he was involved in expanding or building them. He was the one who supervised the building of 3,200 km of pipeline and tarred roads during his time. When he was even the head of state later, they were exporting petroleum products. He did not soil his hands in oil money. In fact, this is a man who could have made a lot of money drilling oil wells for his friends or owning oil wells; he did not steal and he did not own any oil well. Everything that ever belonged to Nigeria, he tried to protect. He did not corner any of them as many of us do today.
So, if Nigeria is this corrupt and nothing seems to be moving, and Nigeria is this in dire need of redemption or rescue, you need a man who was in a position to do it before and did it, to come and do it. When France was in trouble, they looked for (Charles) de Gaulle. When countries are in trouble, they look for a man who has been tested and good and was not found wanting to come and restore the state to order. Buhari is the only person who can restore the country to order. Because this county does not just have a future, it has a mission. And I know of this, because one has to address this thing spiritually, not just materially. Nigeria has a future and a mission and the people who are being downloaded into Nigeria today are those who will build it. The children who are in coming now are those who will build it. But someone has to lay the foundation. And that foundation must be laid now. And that is why we had a merger of political parties. Because if the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had been confronted individually by the political parties, they would have ruled for the 50 years they said they would rule. But the merger has brought us eye-ball to eye-ball and 120,000 polling units we are there, that is the APC. There is no question of anybody wanting to rig. We are even bigger than the PDP now. And so, change is what we are fighting for. Change by God’s grace will come and Nigeria will start on a journey which it ought to have started on long ago. But it is better late than never. It will start on a journey to lead not just Africa but make a statement to the world in the next few years.
Realnews: Of recent, it is almost like General Buhari is no longer consistent in his anti-corruption stance.
Momoh: Why do you say so? I just watched him on Channels Television interactive session with students and young people from South-West at Eko Hotel, Lagos. The statement he has always been making is about people channeling the resources of Nigeria to their pockets and saying that, that will stop if he is voted for. That has always been his stance. I don’t know if you can illustrate what you mean by he has not been consistent in his anti-corruption stance.
Realnews: General Buhari said that he will not probe past government leaders if he is voted into power as president. What do you have to say about that?
Momoh: No, but that is consistent. He has always been consistent. When I interviewed him in 2003, I published a book ‘Many Questions and Buhari’s Answers’ that is what he told me that time. He said the government that is working now is at power to do what it is doing. That he does not believe in the government that comes later to start questioning the power of the government to do what it is doing. And that is consistent.
But the thing is that if certain situations were allowed during that regime you must stop when he himself has come in. If you bring what you were doing to his own term, then you will get hurt. If, let’s say you were taking 25percent before you approve contract in a previous regime and now he himself has come in and you want to ask for 20 percent or one percent or whatever, you will get hurt because he will just draw the line and start moving forward.
But he is saying that if you have any matter like security agencies are holding any charges against you, he will not interfere with those security agencies. He will allow them to do their work. Don’t forget that the crime has no lifespan. When you commit crime, even if in 100 years’ time you are caught, you must face the music. Buhari says anybody who has any criminal matter to answer to will answer to it. It is not enough to say because you have a problem, you must shift to the APC and think you will get protection, you won’t get it. So there is no inconsistency in his stance. All he is saying is that he is not going to start investigating the other government for all the things that you were doing right or wrong because his mandate starts from a particular date and he starts moving forward because there are a lot of challenges that must be met. That is what is consistence.
Realnews: You mentioned that Buhari is not corrupt and that he has no money or property outside the country. Right now the APC seems not to have as much money as the PDP. How is the APC coping considering the fact that it is very expensive to run for an election?
Momoh: The fact is that you are one of the contributors. If you are not, you better go and do so. The poor people are the ones funding our campaign. Another thing is that a lot of expenditure is coming from contributions of people. All our operations are 99.9 percent volunteers. I am here, I am not being paid. Lots of people are spending their own resources and volunteers because they believe in us. We don’t believe that we are more interested in those in-charge to keep jobs. We are more in those in charge, encouraging them to their environment where people can work and then earn a living. Not looking for godfathers who will interfere with whatever they are doing so that they are attended to. No! So, people are working to help relieve the environment in Nigeria for people to be what they can be in that environment.
Let me give you an example, when I was chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change, you know Congress for Progressive Change is one of the parties that is in the APC, that was dissolved and came into the APC. The All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, was dissolve and came into the APC. The Action Congress of Nigeria, ANC was dissolved and it came into the APC. And lots of other people came into the APC. You know the five governors and their structures came into the APC, so, we have lots of people who were dissolved and came into the APC.
You know, when we were in the CPC during the 2011 election, someone came with 10 buses and wanted to give the 10 buses to the CPC, but he said when you get there what will you give me? You know, we didn’t have any vehicles and general said: ‘I am on a pension. The only thing that is mine is my pension money. That is the one I can disburse as I like. But when I get there, what is there belongs to government so I cannot make any promise about what to give to you what is not mine. And the man took away his 10 buses. That is to tell you the kind of person we have here. So, anybody who is really out in this campaign is not doing so because of what they will get, because General Buhari is not going to give anybody what he does not have. So, everybody is a volunteer contributing to the Buhari organisation funding arrangement. Most people are volunteers, I assure you because if you see our rallies people come on their own. We don’t ask any person to come. If you look at the many rallies of the PDP, you will see that many people come in groups. They are procured to attend rallies. We don’t procure any person to attend rally. We don’t.
Realnews: Apparently, do you think President Goodluck Jonathan is using tax payers’ money to fund his campaign?
Momoh: Are you telling me that he is funding his campaign? And if he is funding his campaign, obviously, the money would have been generated from some areas, identifiable areas. It could be those he paid patronage to, who are bringing the money. If, for instance, he is diverting the state money to campaign I don’t know but what I know is that the PDP is spending a lot of money on campaign. And then if he is putting adverts, the adverts you see on television, when you have about 10 adverts in a system unit, then you must know that a lot of money is being spent, millions of millions of naira. We don’t have that type of money. Unless you tell me that it is free. You know, if they have that type of money, it must be coming from somewhere and if the government is touching public funds, then it is unfortunate because someone will have to account through auditing. All the accounts of government are audited and if anyone is diverted from one place to the other, someone will have to answer for it.
Realnews: Kindly intimate Nigerians with dividends of voting for change in the coming elections?
Momoh: I have told you the environment will be created. The whole states of Nigeria will be secured. Okay, then when you secure it through ensuring that all these stealing, insurgency, kidnapping, fraud, all other things, when you stop them, then you stabilise Nigeria. That is securing Nigeria. You stabilise Nigeria through infrastructural development, roads, and schools and so on and so forth. Then station the economy. All those things when you put them in the country, then of course, something will emerge. There will be prosperity. In other words, to prosper Nigeria which is the anchor of creating the environment for security and then ensuring you stabilise Nigeria through these infrastructural developments. When you do these, you will see that prosperity will come. So, in the end, what Nigeria gains by voting for change is that Nigeria will become prosperous, with all things will be secured and stabilised.
Realnews: You just talked about security, what is the security situation now in the country?
Momoh: You know that we have insurgency in the North-East, which the government is attending to and our soldiers are making a lot of progress of which I congratulate them. Then but you still have the pipelines being vandalised, broken and destroyed in the Niger- Delta. Even in Kogi where you have a lot of increase in armed robbery and so on and so forth. You have a lot of armed robberies in so many areas in the country. So, everywhere in Nigeria, there is hardly any place where you can sleep. All these things should be the concern of those who are in government. And this is a promise change will bring if we are allowed to come in.
Realnews: Is it propaganda that security issues are being tackled in the country?
Momoh: Why should it be propaganda? We don’t believe that it is propaganda. It’s something that would have been done long before now. If they were not serious and do not understand it, it shows now that they are now serious of it. And the earlier it is dealt with, the best for all of us. We must secure the North-East.
For instance, in 1914, the North and South were joined together. And we have what I call the integrated states and integrated people. Our own challenge should be the integrated people. But now, not only do we not have integrated people; we now don’t even have integrated states. Part of our states in the North-East has been taken over and then some people are calling it a different name outside Nigeria. So, we must fight to integrate the states and to integrate the people through the change that we are asking for. So, whatever people had wanted, whether it is for propaganda or whether they wanted to undermine some other people, I don’t know. But it is better late than never. Nobody should try to diminish the states that Nigeria have had since 1914, and so we must get all those areas occupied by the insurgents from them.
Realnews: The war against Boko Haram is still on, do you think the military are doing their best and are winning the war against Boko Haram?
Momoh: Why not? Insurgency in the North-East is a thing that ought to have been challenged before now. That is why it is better late than never. Boko Haram must go because Nigeria will not grow when we have insurgency anywhere.
Realnews: Is it constitutional to deploy the military during election? Or should the Police be left alone to protect the nation during the election?
Momoh: The military are there to protect our territorial integrity. The police are in respect for general order. I don’t see why the military should be evident from polling unit to polling unit. It’s strange that we have that type of thing. But if you have the military at locations where you can call on them when the need arises, that is better than setting them loose from polling unit to polling unit. The military have no business moving from polling unit to polling unit. It is an aberration. So, the earlier we stop it the better.
Realnews: When you say it is an aberration for the military to be deployed to polling units, what of when there is violence and we all know the police are not allowed to carry arms to polling units?
Momoh: Why should they carry arms to polling units? Do they want to cause the violence? When there is violence, if police cannot tame it, then the military can come in. But the fact, is nemesis don’t amount to violence. Nigerians are law abiding. In the past, violence has come from injustice. So, if people are changing the results that can cause violence. When people are orderly and accredited to vote, and they vote, and the results are announced, and then the votes are counted and announced at the vote count, there can never be violence and there will be no violence. You don’t go and put army in the polling unit because you say you expect violence, unless you have the motive to cause trouble.
Realnews: Do you foresee a free and fair election?
Momoh: There are two key parties now, the PDP and the APC. In other words, Nigerians have an option now. They can choose either the PDP or the APC. So, because of this balance of power, there will be free, fair and transparent election. Because in the 120,000 polling unit, the PDP will be there, the APC will be there. It is eye-ball to eye-ball. When you say balance of power, there is another side to balance of terror. You know Jesus says, give unto Caesar what is Caesars’ and give unto God what is God. In the area of giving to God what is God, if they slap you, you turn the other cheek. That is the area of giving to God what is God. You know God’s own is anointing and God says if anything happens leave it to me, I will avenge. That is in the spiritual. But then, which is Caesar’s, politics is Caesar’s terrain. It is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If someone slaps you, you slap the person because if you allow a politician to slap you, and then you leave God to intervene, the politician will slap you one hundred thousand times, and he will not feel guilty. So, he will take your turning the other cheek as a weakness and enslave you.
So, let us get it clear, God is not a politician. So, anybody in the federal terrain that is involved in politics must be able to ensure his presence through how many people vote for him in his political party. So, the level of fighting is the PVC the permanent voters’ card as we have in Nigeria today. So, people should exercise their power by going to vote, and anybody who wants to deprive you from voting is trying to cause you to be violent because freedom is not served on a platter. Freedom is taking you don’t wait for anybody to give it to you. So, I am saying this so that nobody will give it out. All our institutions, the police, the army, the (Independent National Electoral Commission), INEC and other agencies because of these possibility of choice, then they will perform their duty. But the election will be free, fair and transparent. And then the result will be declared and then everybody will celebrate. Anybody who wants to cause trouble because of that will be picked up. And that is the truth. Nigeria is bigger than any individual in age.
Realnews: What is the danger of undue interference in the electoral process?
Momoh: They will die. If you don’t follow the rules, then what happens, it is violation of the rules. The rules are there. We must follow the rules. The INEC is independent of anybody and must be allowed to do its job. That is constitutional order. So, when people say they are going to remove (Attahiru) Jega, (chairman of INEC) I just laugh because they don’t really know that there are four ways Jega can go. You can’t act outside the four ways. The first one, Jega can go by dying. If Jega dies today, he has gone and left the job. Or if you like, you can say by killing him. He has left the job. He can resign, that is the second way. If he is not doing well, they can report him to the National Assembly, that is the Senate of the National Assembly and he can be removed by two-thirds majority of the Senate of the National Assembly. That is the third way. The fourth way is if his contract is over. If the contract cannot be renewed, he can be asked to go. Someone in a position to renew it may not agree to renew it. So, he goes. So, outside those four ways, nobody can remove him. We are in a country with laws and a country of laws. The country of laws is where everybody is equal before the law. The country with law is when you have a lot of laws and people are arbitrary in implementing the law. Say for instance you say our president can sack Jega, then he will be breaking the law by sacking Jega outside the due process and I don’t think our president has degenerated to that level.
Realnews: Do you think that the six weeks postponement of the election was necessary?
Momoh: Obviously, those who shifted the date of the election know why they did it. But they acted within the constitutional provision allowed for it. They cannot do it outside the provision of the election and not get hurt. So, we hope that the postponement in accordance within the constitutional provision. The one that cannot be changed, if they change it and it is outside the constitutional provision, then like I said before, someone will be touching the tail of the tiger and he will be on his own.
Realnews: Barely few weeks to the commencement of the elections, a federal high court in Abuja has ordered the INEC to accord full recognition to the Young Democratic Party. What are the implications of registering a new party? Do you think the election will suffer another setback following the court judgment?
Momoh: I have not read the verdict of the court, but the fact is that if you have a new party that registered, the party will have certain things to do. The party will have to have its own members, its own executives to the ward executive, to the local government executive, the state executive, the national executive. Then it is after doing that, it will have to have primaries to have its own candidate for the House of Assembly, the candidates for the National Assembly, the gubernatorial candidate and then the presidential candidate. All these must happen and these things must be filed with the INEC within the time stipulated for filling. And if that has happened, then the INEC will now have the party registered on the ballot. So, you don’t put the party on the ballot because the party has been registered. But the party must be in a position to contest election and would have met the condition that the INEC set for the election. So, if the court says register, don’t forget that the INEC can appeal against the order to register until it gets to the Supreme Court before the final verdict is passed. So, you cannot say because court said register, therefore, the INEC will go and cancel everything it has done, all the papers, all the ballot papers they have printed because the court says register. A lot of people, I don’t even know how they think. So, it is not possible to stop the election because of the so-called decision of the court that a political party should be registered. The political party is a permanent body. So, if it is registered now, then it can take part in future election, not hold the INEC to satisfy the registration before election goes on. I don’t know how some Nigerians think.
Realnews: Is the APC comfortable with the use of the card reader for this election?
Momoh: Card readers are one way of ascertaining accreditation. It is not a voting instrument. It is not electronic voting. It is one of finding out whether a person wants to vote. It is the person who is holding that card in front of the INEC. In other words, it shows whether you are the rightful owner of that card. And it shows whether you are the owner. And if for one reason or the other it cannot conclude if you are the owner, then INEC looks at other data captured there and then you can now fill a form so that you can be allowed to vote. So, the use of the card reader does not automatically mean that those whose data was not fully captured will not vote. So, it is a very difficult to kill off the voting process. How come that the ruling party that has been talking of free, fair and transparent election is the one saying no to card reader which will help in ensuring that elections are free, fair, transparent and unrigged? It will help to protect it because you cannot expect to write results and push them forward and think that they are true.
Realnews: There are allegations by the ruling party that General Buhari’s mental ability is unstable and, therefore, cannot govern this nation. How do react?
Momoh: You want me to react to that? But you watched General Buhari just now. I am not a medical doctor and don’t know if the people who said so are doctors. General Buhari stood at the interactive with students sometime ago in a short interview with students. I saw him and he spoke very well. Buhari is more articulate than any leader the PDP can bring. So, I don’t know their definition and I don’t want to be distracted to the comment of such things.
Realnews: There are several national issues bothering the minds of the common Nigerian other than the elections. Like infrastructures, power, economy, health, etc. What do you have to say to the common man?
Momoh: I told you that we will secure the nation and stabilise it. Stabilising the nation by looking at the areas where Nigerians say they want to be attended to in Chapter 2 of the Constitution that is the social, political, economic, cultural, exceptional policy and environmental areas. The objectives are stated in Chapter 2 of the Constitution what any government should do to ensure the welfare and security of the citizenry. So, you stabilise the country through infrastructural development, power, economy, job creation, etc. All these are addressed in the manifesto of the APC. Government is there in section 14 of the constitution because of the welfare and security of the citizen. And what you want to do in the area of welfare and security is what you put in your manifesto. You have to address all those areas which are generally addressed in the APC new criteria in its manifesto. I don’t know whether you have read the manifesto of the APC. You will see the definition of a new Nigeria and the sort of things that will be done is spelt out and very detailed in the manifesto.
Realnews: Lately, the two major political parties, the APC and the PDP have been trading words, especially in paid advertorials in both the print and electronic media. What do you have to say?
Momoh: We don’t have the tonnes of money that the PDP uses in paid advertorials in the electronic media and the pages of newspapers. When you have one hour news, you will see the PDP vote for Jonathan. You will have at least 10 to 12 adverts and may not even have one of our own. First of all, we don’t have money. Secondly, each advert that they put there, when we want to respond, they say order from above, they won’t accept. So, what do we do? They have a field day in that area. But one thing they don’t know is that adverts don’t have voters card. Adverts cannot come to be accredited. People will and we are trying in all different ways that we can to tell people what it is, the man of change, the man of integrity that you have to lead the change, and then the fact that what we have to offer Nigeria is integrity and the will to fight the ills of the society and ensure that we put Nigeria on the right path. So, that it cannot only achieve its mission but do so by carrying the people along.
Realnews: Do you see the election coming to pass without further postponement?
Momoh: What I am saying is that constitutionally there will be no room for further postponement. That is why I said that we accepted the postponement from February 14 to March 28 because it is constitutionally recommended. It’s in line with constitutional provision that they should hold election not less than 30 days before swearing-in. So, if anyone postpones the voting beyond the constitutional time frame allowed, then like I said, someone is touching the tiger’s tail and he is on his own. You know, if you touch the tiger’s tail, you know what the tiger is ready to do. He will not accept the breach of constitutional provision in the name of satisfying the greed of those who know that they have lost the election. There must be election, because democracy is democracy because of election. And the rules are settled and the INEC is the referee. The INEC must do its work. One of the parties cannot decide to trade the rules. No one will allow it. People don’t seem to know what you are talking about. It is two big people playing football now. We are bigger than the PDP. So, the PDP can decide to be in the opposition now.
Realnews: You say the ruling party is on the opposition?
Momoh: Yes, ruling party because it is in power now. When you count the numbers, we are bigger than the PDP. So, the PDP cannot just mess up. That is what I am saying. You see, it is eyeball-to-eyeball.
Realnews: What is your take about the statement allegedly made by Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State that there will be a parallel government if the election is not free and fair?
Momoh: You have said if the election is not free and fair. If someone writes up a report instead of what is shown in the ballot, is that election free and fair? If someone wants to remain in power and say no election when there are provisions for elections to be held. If for instance, elections are rigged or other things are imposed, but why are the books saying that Jonathan must be president whether he in or not? What have we done to him?
Realnews: After the elections there must be a winner. Do you foresee the losing party razing down hell in the country?
Momoh: You have been conducting interview and I have been giving answers. I say elections will be free, fair, transparent and then peaceful. The results will be declared. Heavens will not fall. If anybody is part of the election that is free, fair and transparent for everybody to see and someone is raising dust, he will be picked up for preventing people to do their work.
Realnews: Nigerians are appealing to the consciences of the two major political parties to shun violence during the election. We hope that there will be peace during the elections.
Momoh: There will be peace. There won’t be impunity because it is eyeball-to-eyeball. And we are in the terrain of Caesar. You slap me, I slap you. That is the thing. There are major parties and you have election manipulation where you have witness on each side of the parties contesting. In the whole of the north, we had 12 million votes given to Buhari in the 2011 election. Upon this, we do not have even one councilor, one House of Representative person, one governor. The whole of the South was locked up and South-South and South-East, the votes were written out and announced but not in the South-West, South-West is our own. So, South-South is on bundle, South-East is on bundle. The North is locked up for General Buhari. So, how is it possible for people to rig the election? You can’t rig anywhere in the country today. So, elections will be free, fair and transparent. The votes will be counted, and then the results will be announced. And whosoever loses will congratulate the other one and go because that is what democracy is all about.
Realnews: You mentioned the issue of eyeball-to-eyeball, is it really healthy in the polity when electioneering focus is largely on persons rather than issues in the country?
Momoh: Election should be on issues. When Femi Fani-Kayode was told by our own director, that we should remember that this election is supposed to be based on issues, then, he said: “Don’t be stupid. Don’t be rude; are you to teach me my work? Don’t you know that the issue in this election is Buhari?” So, he said Buhari is the issue in this election. They have been talking of Buhari, what he did and what he did not do. Not even one good thing of Buhari when he was head of state. They talked of the certificate, they talk that Buhari is not a Nigerian. And Fani-Kayode said that his wife is not a Nigerian, all those sort of things. Even they talked of his wife who died, his daughter who died; all sorts of things. Nobody has ever talked about anything good about him, because they say he is the issue. Instead of talking of corruption, how we messed up the economy, what (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo left behind in the reserve and how much we have brought everything down, what we were owing before Obasanjo left and what we are owing now. The situational status before Obasanjo left and what amount of money was voted for power and what is the status of power now; they left them behind. And all that they are talking is Buhari, Buhari and Buhari. You know, even when he was speaking at Chatham House in London, Fani-Kayode said he was in the hospital in Florida. He is drawing attention from issues. But the good news is that, all those things won support for Buhari because Buhari has never uttered any word against Jonathan as a person. He has always been talking on issues, corruption, employment, jobs, infrastructural development, security, and so on. Those are issues he has been addressing. Those are really the issues that we should be addressing so that if Nigeria gives us a chance, we will implement those policies we have made.
|
Tags: 2015 elections Action Congress of Nigeria Advertising Council of Nigeria Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria All Nigeria Peoples Party All Progressives Congress ANC ANPP APC Attahiru Boko Haram Channels Television Chibuike Amaechi Congress for Progressive Change Congress Progressive Change CPC Commonwealth Journalists' Association fair Fani-Kayode free Goodluck Jonathan Independent National Electoral Commission INEC Insurgency International Press Institute Jega Muhammadu Buhari NBA nigeria Nigeria Bar Association Nigeria Guild of Editors Nigeria Institute of Public Relations Nigeria Union of Journalists Nigerian Institute of Public Relations NUJ Obasanjo PDP Peoples Democratic Party Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria Selkyo Culture Award Tony Momoh Transparent
