Is APC no campaign show a good omen? With less than 50 days to the Presidential elections, Nigerians are anxious to know what policies and programmes the various political parties and their candidates will be unveiling before them in a bid to secure their votes.
Buhari and Oshiomhole Expectedly, the parties, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have been going across the geo-political zones, selling their blueprints for economic revival, national security, and stable polity amongst others. 2019 polls: NSA pledges neutrality of security agencies However, the All Progressives Congress, APC is yet to roll out its campaign activities, leading to allegations by the PDP that the ruling party, is planning to manipulate the electoral exercise to pave way for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari. Will it be right to assume that the seemingly aloofness on the part of APC to the campaigns is a strategy? Or is the President so sure of his chances that he does not see the need to embark of a nationwide campaigns rather too early?
But for Phrank Shuaibu, Special Assistant to Atiku Abubakar on Public Communication, the former Vice President will continue to interface with Nigerians on the need to vote for him in 2019. Shuiabu told our correspondent that having run out of smart arguments, the APC no longer have anything new to tell the people; hence, its reluctance to commence its campaign activities. He said, “The truth is that we are least worried about APC campaign plan or delay in its take off. The clear fact is that the APC has exhausted itself on lies and there is nothing new to tell Nigerians. More so, the party has a tired candidate that cannot stand the rigours of campaign for many reasons including health threats.
Well, there is nothing wrong for them to run their propaganda from Aso rock. Of course that is where they collected N 1.7 billion from farmers.” Reacting to allegations by the PDP that the APC is out to rig the polls, Shuaibu said Nigerians who have been visited with hunger will rise up against any attempt to corrupt the process, adding that come 2019, the will of the people will be the ultimate decider.
Presidency gives assurance on NOSDRA Amendment Bill assent “On whether the APC would rig the election by compromising the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, well that is in the realm of speculation because the world is watching and the majority of Nigerians that have been thrust into poverty and hunger through poor leadership will resist such. Luckily, we have a very vibrant judiciary that has fought hard to resist this government’s naked intimidation and unjust humiliation of Supreme Court judges.
I have no doubt that the A PC may attempt to rig the elections but the lucky fact is that those that will be assigned to do such ignoble tasks will fail them. So, such a plan is considered dead on arrival. “At the PDP, we want to stay focused by running our campaigns and educating the electorate that Atiku remains the best option in the present day failed national economy.” Shuaibu stated Taking a slightly different position, spokesperson of the PDP Campaign Orgainsation, Kassim Afegbua said the Presidency is overwhelmed by a combination of factors, which render the commencement of campaign pretty difficult today.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is generally a weak President from what we have seen in the last three years. Apart from being bugged down by health challenge, his government has been hijacked by some old folks. This much, his wife spoke about a couple of weeks ago. If we go by the allusion of Hajia Aisha Buhari, it means there are more than one President in the country as we speak.
You cannot expect such a disjointed presidency to commence campaign especially when they have perfected the act of rigging elections. “They tested it in Ondo, they displayed it openly in Ekiti and they went for the kill in Osun. A government and party of professional riggers would not be fascinated by the beauty of campaigns,” he said. Electoral Act Amendment : Atiku, Adeniran, Ozekhome, fault Buhari Afegbua also noted that having failed to deliver on his electioneering promises prior to the 2015 election, President Buhari would find it difficult to come up with convincing arguments on why Nigerians should pitch tent with him yet again. He said, “What do you want them to campaign with? Hunger, poverty, more Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, deprivations, malnutrition, job losses, unemployment, under-employment, incompetence, infrastructural decay and bad economy? What exactly do you want them to campaign with? “Nigerians are generally very tolerant people.
In other democracies with this kind of biting poverty and excruciating hunger, people would be stoning them if they dare step out to campaign. They have not only destroyed the fabric of our collective existence, they have polarized the country in such a whimsical manner. “They may have intention and plot to rig, but we are keeping a close eye on their every step. We know what they intend to do, but at the appropriate time, we will unleash our own strategy on them. This coming election is going to be a referendum of Nigerians against poverty, hunger, nepotism, cronyism, selective amnesia, deprivations, suffering, and malnutrition. The level of extreme poverty has crippled the psyche of the people. We will never allow such a slow and sluggish man to preside over our country any longer. Our thumbs will do the magic in February,” he added. Speaking exclusively with Saturday Vanguard, Aisha Yesufu, rights activist and co-founder of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, said rather than dissipating energy on whether or not the ruling party will commence its campaign any time soon, Nigerians should mobilize forces and mount pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law.
Describing the arguments On Buhari’s no campaign ahead of the polls as a non-issue, Aisha stressed the importance of focus and determination on the part of every Nigerian to make the 2019 elections both credible and transparent. “Why should we care if the President chooses not kick-start his campaign with elections around the corner?
For all I care, he can start campaigning a week to the elections if he so chooses but I want Nigerians to focus on the main issue, which is the signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law. If this law is signed, card reader will be legalized and that will do our electoral process a world of good. They can’t rig if we have this amended law in place. TASUED graduates 2,763, asks FG to create varsities of education “Nigerians should prevail on their senators on this one issue so that the issue of two-third members needed to veto the President will not seem a difficult task. Our democracy must be strengthened to make it functional for the nation and her citizens,” she said. Although, some of the Presidential candidates of the various political parties have been engaging Nigerians on the 2019 polls, the APC is yet to roll out its time-table on its schedule of tours across the six geo-political zones of the country.
