Olu Falae, National Chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP), on Tuesday said Nigerians are united in easing President Muhammadu Buhari out of power in 2019, saying his government has failed.
The former presidential candidate of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999 said this after emerging from a closed-door meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his penthouse at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Falae, who arrived the new Obasanjo residence walked in straight to the meeting in company of few chieftains of the party who accompanied him to Abeokuta, one of whom was the former Commissioner for Information and an SDP governorship aspirant in the state, Sina Kawonise.
A two time governorship aspirant in the state, Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka and a former chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Joju Fadairo, were also part of the meeting.
About thirty minutes after the commencement of the meeting, a former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, also joined the meeting.
The meeting lasted for about an hour after which the former president took his guests on a tour of the museum within the library.
Emerging from the museum, Obasanjo who noticed approaching journalists in their numbers rushed back inside telling Falae, “I leave you to them”.
The former permanent secretary during Obasanjo’s military regime, however, said he was in Abeokuta to exchange views with the former president as it affects the affairs of the nation.
Recalling how he worked closely with Obasanjo in 1977 to 1979, Falae said the meeting centered on efforts to eliminate the threats and danger facing the country.
Falae insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed in his primary responsibility of securing the nation, saying that he didn’t expect Buhari to seek a re-election because of the state of the nation and his personal health.
He said, “I have come to see former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was my boss when I was the permanent secretary in the presidency when he was military head of state. I have come to see him about the affairs of Nigeria.
“The affairs of Nigeria are far greater and far larger than the political ambition of any person, so, I have come to seek views with President Obasanjo on the affairs of Nigeria.
“Once upon a time in 1977 to 1979, I worked with him when he was the military head of state, I was the permanent secretary, working with him and we did many things in those days to advance the course of Nigeria.
“And the way things are in Nigeria, I felt I should come back to see him, to exchange views with him and see if we can make any contribution towards the elimination of threats and danger that face Nigeria.
“I am sure that most if not all right thinking Nigerians would see the need for all of us to work together to ensure that there’s a change, a good change, a beneficial change, a progressive change in 2019.
“We want a change from massive unemployment which we have now; a change from continual harassment and killing of people by Fulani herdsmen; a change from the fears of Boko Haram and bombing threats across Nigeria; a change from a situation where farmers are afraid to go to their farms; a change from the riots that are going on all over the place because of frustration and loss of hope; a change from the present situation of depression of failure and revival of the economy of Nigeria.
“We all know that the present government has not succeeded, they haven’t done well, the primary responsibility of government is to protect the lives of the citizens, this government is not doing so, people continue to be killed and slaughtered every time, any government that cannot stop that has failed.
“President Buhari is a friend, once upon a time, I raised his hands in Adamasingba in Ibadan because he said he would restructure Nigeria, it’s not a personal matter, the truth is that he hasn’t done well and I was hoping that he himself would look at the situation, as a very honest and right thinking person, and do himself a favour and all of us a favour that in the light of what has happened and given the state of his health, he is not going to recontest but he’s not doing so.
“What I am taking away from here is a confirmation that most Nigerians are united in wanting a change for the better, in doing whatever is possible to ease out President Buhari for his own sake and for the sake of Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, a group, Muslim Media Watch, has warned former leaders in the country against utterances with divisive tendencies.
The group, in a statement made available to DAILY INDEPENDENT and signed by its State Coordinator, Kamaldeen Akintunde, also cautioned the media against overheating the polity ahead of 2019 general election.
It stated that their energies and wisdom should be channelled towards solving the nation’s multiplicity of challenges and especially the unending crop and cattle farmers’ conflicts in some parts of the country.
The group also challenged the presidency over the released list of ‘nation’s treasury looters’, describing same as lopsided and against the opposition.
It wondered why people in government were shielded, even National Assembly members who have been found guilty to have mismanaged public funds.
It admonished the central administration against “selective justice” in order not to rubbish its anti-graft initiatives, and which remains a cornerstone of this administration.
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