- ‘He knows he no longer has the capacity to rule Nigeria’
- No one should condemn President’s action – Keyamo
Spokesman of a former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd), Kassim Afegbua, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s formal declaration to seek a second term in office is an exhibition of political greed and crass selfishness.
Afegbua, who was in the eye of the storm, earlier in the year, for releasing a statement, which quoted IBB as advising Buhari not to stand for re-election in 2019, maintained that the President did not deserve being re-elected.
IBB’s media aide, who spoke in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, noted that inasmuch as the President had the right to aspire for a second term in office, a more vibrant, dynamic and younger candidate would do the nation better.
While noting that President Buhari himself had once said that age would be a barrier and limitation to his level of performance in office, Afegbua said, “President Buhari’s declaration for re-election is an exhibition of political greed and crass selfishness. He knows that he no longer has the capacity for delivering the responsibilities of governance, but he is enamoured by the aura of power and its addictive properties. “He has defied all his claims before he became President, when he delivered a lecture at Chatham House in London. He is a lover of medical tourism, as we speak. He promised to sell some planes in the presidential fleet, but nothing has happened.”
He added, “He promised to declare his assets publicly, but he failed to do so. I am not in support of his declaration for re-election because he no longer represents the collective aspirations of a lot of Nigerians. He is old and having medical challenges. So, I expect him to honourably bow out and recommend a younger Nigerian to mount the saddle.
“This is the age of retirement, the age of rest, because we are talking of a man, who admittedly told his audience that old age would affect his performance. That period, he was 72, but it is worse now at 76 years. There is nothing to prove again and I expect him to allow Nigeria to move on. Why must we be held down by the political inaction of these present emanations? President Buhari should honourably bow out and let Nigeria move forward.”
He argued that even if the President was allowed to go for another term, his administration would continue to rotate on the same axis of non-performance.
He said, “PMB has become tired bones that need rest and retirement. That is the home truth. Even if he serves another term, we will still be rotating on the same axis of non-performance. It takes eternity for the President to take decisions. He is slow to act. We need a hands-on President that can stay awake when the country is asleep.
“We need a president that can visit four states in one day to see things for himself and not one that goes around to commission state projects. Aren’t we surprised that in the last three years, there has been no project commenced and finished by our government? Are we fighting corruption the way it should be fought? Even the President, who promised us public declaration of his assets before coming into power, bucked after he assumed power.”
Afegbua disclosed that, as a member of the APC, he was one of those who had faith in the Muhammadu Buhari candidacy in 2015, noting that he campaigned and wooed voters for his victory in the elections.
But he expressed regret that when the President assumed power, he relegated many of the foot soldiers, who toiled at the polls, and began to hobnob and gratify those who did not partake in the efforts to get him to power.
He added that he was particularly piqued and dismayed by President Buhari’s seeming ineptitude in dealing with infrastructural challenges in the country, particularly in Edo State, which voted massively for him in the 2015 general elections.
Afegbua also decried the sorry state of most Federal roads in the country, noting that it was unfortunate that the Buhari-led government was not doing anything to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians, who use these roads, daily.
“It hurts to the soul that a lot of our communities are suffering from ecological crises of erosion without government intervention, and Federal roads across the nation are in dilapidated and dysfunctional states. As a result of this, I have a right to withdraw my support for a President, who no longer represents my aspirations,” he said.
Don’t condemn President for seeking second term – Keyamo
But in a swift reaction, human rights activist and lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has said that Buhari’s decision to declare to run for another fresh term should not be condemned as he had only followed the footsteps of his predecessors in office.
Keyamo, who spoke to our correspondent, stressed that the incumbent President had not set any precedence by his declaration for a second term, adding that all past presidents took the same decision during their time.
“I don’t know why the President’s declaration for a second term is raising any dust at all. The reason is that I have not seen any President or governor, who is entitled to run for a second term and didn’t run, since 1960. So, why should Buhari’s own be different? Nobody in the history of Nigeria has done that,” Keyamo said.
He maintained that Buhari’s age would not affect the incumbent President in his second term, contrary to claims by those opposed to him.
Keyamo, therefore, enjoined Nigerians to be patient with him.
“Nobody should condemn his age because we are not God. In fact, anybody that tries to condemn his age may receive the anger of God. Morgan Svangirai, who was the opposition in Zimbabwe kept fighting Mugabe over the years because he felt Mugabe was too old and may die in power. He was younger fresh and agile. But Robert Mugabe was alive to see the death of Svangirai. Is that not a shocker? So nobody should go to the issue of age and health at all. It is an area that is owned by God alone,” he said
The senior advocate also dismissed claims in some quarters that President Buhari should be blamed for the lingering Fulani herdsmen attacks in parts of the country.
Speaking against the backdrop of the recent attacks in Taraba State, which claimed at least 30 lives, Keyamo said the killings began to occur during the tenure of the previous administration.
He recalled that under former President Goodluck Jonathan, more people were killed in such attacks.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria noted that the Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, admitted two weeks ago that the killings under the Jonathan government were more than what had been recorded under the Buhari administration.
While stressing that the killings had always occurred, Keyamo argued that attention should be shifted to stopping the carnage, rather than pointing accusing finger at the President.
He said, “The killings started many years ago and more people died under Jonathan than now. During that time, a serving senator was killed and a member of the House of Representatives was killed by herdsmen. During Jonathan’s era, more people were killed; even Governor Ortom said it two weeks ago.
“He said when he was a minister under Jonathan, 54 people were killed in a village in one day and a house burnt down. So, why are the attacks making headlines now? Is it because he is a President of Fulani extraction?
“The problem has always been there. I think it is better to shift the narrative to how to stop it and not that he caused it. Or whether he has done enough to stop it, not what caused it.”
Keyamo added that Buhari was the only President in the history of the country to have given directives that any herdsman found with firearms be arrested and prosecuted.
