From Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
One of the presidential aspirants of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 election, Senator Datti
Ahmed, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to tell Nigerians the source
of his campaign funds.
The 48-year old founder of Base
University, Abuja was at PDP headquarters on Friday to formally inform
the leadership of his desire to seek the party’s ticket for the 2019
presidential election.
The presidential aspirant who was
accompanied to the meeting by the Director General of his campagn
organisation, Hon. Chuma Nzeribe, said Nigeria can no longer be ruled in
2019 by people that lament rather than take responsibility.
He painted a very gloomy picture of affairs in the country should Nigerians allow APC to come back in 2019.
Ahmed said he joined the PDP because he believed the party was now safe.
“For surviving the backlash of 2015
election and still retaining its structures, PDP has shown that it is a
political party,” he said.
On the issue of corruption, Ahmed said:
“Mr. Chairman, there is stealing going on in Nigeria as I speak. This
anti corruption is a lie; how can one collect money from people’s
salaries to campaign for election and you come to power to say you are
fighting corruption? How can your friends and relatives be making
billions at our expense? Inflated contracts are still being awarded.
“Two notoriously rich former governors
have been rewarded with two of the biggest ministries. I am inviting
President Buhari with due respect to come out and address an
international press conference to say that his government is not
corrupt. Let him tell us categorically that his administration is not
corrupt.”
He challenged the president to come
clean on how he raised the money spent on his election campaigns in
2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015.
The presidential aspirant also attacked
the notion that President Buhari is very popular in the north, saying
that such popularity is not based on any known ideological standpoint
but only sentiments.
According to Ahmed, “President Buhari
built his politics around the gullible ones, by “inciting hatred of poor
people against the elite”.
On what he will do to revamp the economy
if elected, the aspirant said his immediate priority will be to
stabilise the exchange rate and bring down the interest rate to the
lowest level.
On security, he said under his
administration every inch of Nigeria’s territory will be accounted for.
He promised to deploy technology to monitor all the major towns and
highways in the country.
According to Ahmed, stabilising the interest rate and foreign exchange rate will attract more foreign investors thereby creating a buoyant economy.
Speaking on the failings of APC, Ahmed
said the party promised to tackle insecurity but instead Nigerians are
today being slaughtered on a daily basis without any protection.
In his remarks, the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, said PDP had been rebranded and was ready to return to power in 2019.
“PDP has undergone its worst days and we
are coming out the best,” he said. The PDP boss also lamented the spate
of violence and killings in the country,Secondus asked APC leaders to
stop making excuses for their failure to arrest the ugly situation by
using propaganda to try to deceive the people.
Secondus also accused the APC-led
administration of bias in its anti corruption crusade by refusing to
prosecute its members who are facing corruption allegation.
He said at the appropriate time, the PDP
will come out with evidence of corruption against President Buhari and
other members of the ruling party.
“Nigerians know the secret of the APC and will expose them when the time comes.
“You can fool the people sometimes but
you cannot fool them all the time. Buhari, APC have nothing to offer.
Economy, insecurity and unemployment are worsening. APC administration
is arresting people out of fear and desperation,” he said.
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