The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Friday urged Nigerians
to vote out President Muhammadu Buhari in order to ensure national unity
and security.
According to him, Nigeria needs a president who will unite all
parts of the country, respect national character, grow local businesses
and support entrepreneurial skills.
Speaking in Owerri, the Imo State capital, while meeting with the
stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the October 6
presidential primaries of the PDP, Saraki said Nigeria had never been so
divided in ethnicity, politics and religion.
Describing himself as the right person to lead Nigeria in the next
political dispensation, the former governor of Kwara State said that
poverty, loss of job opportunities and hardship were currently on the
increase in the country.
Saraki said, “By the grace of God, I will emerge the PDP
presidential candidate. My desire is not just an ambition. Nigeria has
never been this divided. People are afraid to be called Nigerians.
Ethnicity and religion have taken over. There is no inclusion anymore,
no fairness, no federal character, no job and businesses are dying.
Survival of businesses is survival of the country. Poverty is
everywhere.”
He said that if not for God and the masses, Buhari would have
ensured his removal as the president of the senate three years ago.
Saraki said, “I will continue to fight for the masses. We have
to change the leadership. We need a leadership that would ensure justice
and fair distribution of national appointments. As a president, I will
ensure everybody has food on the table. I will restore global
reputation. Countries are built by hard work and vision.”
“The South-East people are hardworking and their
entrepreneurial spirit is wonderful. As a president, I will partner
South-East to emerge the next tiger of business in Africa. You don’t
build what you don’t have. I therefore appeal to the delegates to vote
wisely.
“We must change Buhari with a man that has capacity, integrity
and vision in order to realise our potential. I believe in restructuring
that would give states opportunities to realise their potentials. I
promoted made-in-Aba products. As a President, I will support local
businesses. We need to have a president that will ensure prosperity;
nobody wants a handout.”
He, however, called on the people of the state to support Senator
Samuel Anyanwu to emerge as the governor of the state, in order to
ensure infrastructure development in the state.
“I’m committed to the development of the South-East because it
is in the best interest of Nigeria. You need the president that has the
youthfulness, the energy to deliver.”
A political associate of Saraki and member of the Senate, Senator
Dino Melaye, urged the crowd to replace Buhari with Saraki, saying, “APC is dead in Imo State and in Nigeria.”
The Chairman of the PDP in Imo State, Charles Ezekwem, said the
Igbo were interested in a presidential candidate that would restructure
the country and create an additional state in the South-East.
Ezekwem said, “I have seen everything positive in Saraki. His
defection gave the PDP the chances of clinching the position of the
president in the next election.
“Igbo want restructuring and fairness. Saraki has the capacity,
strength, pedigree and academic background to move Nigeria forward.”