i'm being harshly judged by my past records – Buhari
The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential flag bearer,
General Muhammadu (rtd) in a live interview with Christiane
Amanpour, on Wednesday evening said it was wrong for
anyone to use what transpired during the military era to judge
General Muhammadu (rtd) in a live interview with Christiane
Amanpour, on Wednesday evening said it was wrong for
anyone to use what transpired during the military era to judge
him in his quest to return to power under a democratic
government.
He also said that he would ensure that corruption is rooted out
of the system as soon as he is elected, agreeing with the
statement that if ”Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption
will kill Nigeria.”
This was as he welcomed former President, Olusegun
Obasanjo’s endorsement of his candidacy.
The former head of state while speaking from his Abuja office,
affirmed that the Boko Haram insurgency would be upstaged
by his administration by blocking corruption and other
leakages. He said that the major problem with the war against
Boko Haram was that the money voted to address the menace
was always not used appropriately, blaming corruption and
lack of accountability as well as poor welfare of the army for
the failure of the current administration to win the war against
insurgency.
When asked what he thinks of Nigerians having to grapple with
the difficult option of choosing from a failed president and a
former military dictator with a bad human rights record, he
said: “All those things you mentioned were done under military
administration; if we did not suspend the constitution then, it
would have been difficult for us to operate under those
circumstances. So I do not think I should be judged as an
individual for those things that happened then.”
He further said that the approach under a democratic
government would be different from the regime where the
constitution was suspended.
Welcoming the endorsement of President Obasanjo, he said:
“Well it will certainly bring more supporters to us and more
confidence for those who were sitting on the fence because
General Obasanjo is highly respected and as far as the nation
is concerned, there is no issue that can be deliberated upon
without people seeking his opinion.
affirmed that the Boko Haram insurgency would be upstaged
by his administration by blocking corruption and other
leakages. He said that the major problem with the war against
Boko Haram was that the money voted to address the menace
was always not used appropriately, blaming corruption and
lack of accountability as well as poor welfare of the army for
the failure of the current administration to win the war against
insurgency.
When asked what he thinks of Nigerians having to grapple with
the difficult option of choosing from a failed president and a
former military dictator with a bad human rights record, he
said: “All those things you mentioned were done under military
administration; if we did not suspend the constitution then, it
would have been difficult for us to operate under those
circumstances. So I do not think I should be judged as an
individual for those things that happened then.”
He further said that the approach under a democratic
government would be different from the regime where the
constitution was suspended.
Welcoming the endorsement of President Obasanjo, he said:
“Well it will certainly bring more supporters to us and more
confidence for those who were sitting on the fence because
General Obasanjo is highly respected and as far as the nation
is concerned, there is no issue that can be deliberated upon
without people seeking his opinion.
.” Buhari also spoke on the postponement of the election dates
which he described as unfortunate. According to him, “That is
a disappointment because the presentation made by the INEC
was that they were ready to conduct the elections on the date
chosen a year ago, and for them to be forced virtually by the
military that they cannot guarantee the safety of their workers
and shift it by six weeks is disturbing.”
It would be recalled that INEC on Saturday night shifted the
general elections earlier scheduled to hold on February 14 and
28 to March 28 and April 11 after the Nigerian security
chiefs wrote a letter demanding for a shift in the dates, saying
they could not guarantee the safety of Nigerians during and
after the elections. One of the reasons given by the military
was that it would commence a serious onslaught against the
Boko Haram Insurgents in the northeast and cannot entertain
distractions of an election during the offensive.
President Jonathan had during a media chat on Wednesday
evening however debunked the position of INEC that the
elections were shifted because of just security issues. He said
poor distribution and collection of PVCs were chiefly
responsible for the shift in dates. He said the security issues
raised were related to the collection of PVCs. He said ‘’ During
the Council of State meeting, the issue of security was
emphasised and there is no way security chiefs would have
disclosed all the details to everybody but they disclosed some
things to me which they did not mention to others.
“There are two aspects to the issue of insecurity. The first is
Boko Haram and the second is the threat factor in the
country.
“When INEC picked the dates for elections, the threat level
was not high until we started the campaign. So, it was
important for the security chiefs to review the security
architecture otherwise the country would have gone up in
flames.
“In election, a lot of problems are involved. When the issue of
PVC was being branded as a problem, INEC, from what Jega
mentioned that day, clearly was not ready for the elections.
They said they were ready but they were not.
“The day we held that meeting that led to this adjustment of
dates, in Lagos for example, only about 38 per cent of
registered voters had their PVCs. That means if we conduct
elections in Lagos, 62 per cent of voters would not have been
able to vote.
“Don’t you think there are security implications in that?
which he described as unfortunate. According to him, “That is
a disappointment because the presentation made by the INEC
was that they were ready to conduct the elections on the date
chosen a year ago, and for them to be forced virtually by the
military that they cannot guarantee the safety of their workers
and shift it by six weeks is disturbing.”
It would be recalled that INEC on Saturday night shifted the
general elections earlier scheduled to hold on February 14 and
28 to March 28 and April 11 after the Nigerian security
chiefs wrote a letter demanding for a shift in the dates, saying
they could not guarantee the safety of Nigerians during and
after the elections. One of the reasons given by the military
was that it would commence a serious onslaught against the
Boko Haram Insurgents in the northeast and cannot entertain
distractions of an election during the offensive.
President Jonathan had during a media chat on Wednesday
evening however debunked the position of INEC that the
elections were shifted because of just security issues. He said
poor distribution and collection of PVCs were chiefly
responsible for the shift in dates. He said the security issues
raised were related to the collection of PVCs. He said ‘’ During
the Council of State meeting, the issue of security was
emphasised and there is no way security chiefs would have
disclosed all the details to everybody but they disclosed some
things to me which they did not mention to others.
“There are two aspects to the issue of insecurity. The first is
Boko Haram and the second is the threat factor in the
country.
“When INEC picked the dates for elections, the threat level
was not high until we started the campaign. So, it was
important for the security chiefs to review the security
architecture otherwise the country would have gone up in
flames.
“In election, a lot of problems are involved. When the issue of
PVC was being branded as a problem, INEC, from what Jega
mentioned that day, clearly was not ready for the elections.
They said they were ready but they were not.
“The day we held that meeting that led to this adjustment of
dates, in Lagos for example, only about 38 per cent of
registered voters had their PVCs. That means if we conduct
elections in Lagos, 62 per cent of voters would not have been
able to vote.
“Don’t you think there are security implications in that?
“Some other states had slightly above 30 per cent collection
while some had 50 per cent and there were some states that
had 60 to 70 per cent. The security agencies highlighted the
security implications of this but ordinary people might not see
it that way.”
while some had 50 per cent and there were some states that
had 60 to 70 per cent. The security agencies highlighted the
security implications of this but ordinary people might not see
it that way.”
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