Elder statesman and influential Northern leader, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has revealed those who should be consulted to know if President Muhammadu Buhari will run for a second term.
Junaid Mohammed
A Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has joined eminent Nigerians of northern extraction and evaluated the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari
in the light of recent calls on him to seek re-election by some
northern governors, and declared that the President had not done enough.
While speaking in a chat with Saturday Vanguard, Junaid Said: “I
have not seen evidence as a Nigerian, who goes to the market that the
life of the average Nigerian is getting better. It is either these
governors have their ambition or maybe they are beginning to think of
what they can do.
‘’They are making noise as if 2019 is achievable on the pages
of Newspapers. I have no objection to any politician having an ambition
or a politician who is trying to play games with our own situation.
"In the case of APC, we have not seen any clear sign that they
are serious or they mean business. There was a meeting of the leaders of
the party in Ibadan, where Bisi Akande said the candidacy of their
party in 2019 is an open one. That is a fair comment but for a Nigerian
or an African, who is in power to come to say that he is not going to
contest, I don’t know. That is not African.
‘’But as far as I am concerned, I have not seen rational
evidence to the effect that somebody has achieved and therefore,
deserves to be repaid with another term. Politics has never been a
rational game in Nigeria.
"Sometimes people vote in Nigeria because of primordial
sentiment and geopolitics. It is unfortunate, it stifles our democracy
and makes it impossible to have a national dialogue.
‘’Flying a kite is a legitimate trick. I have known Buhari for
more than 47 years. I knew him in 1967 during the civil war. I think if
Buhari were to fly a kite about re-election, I don’t think he would do
it with the governors of Kogi and Benue states.
"There are governors who are presumably close to Buhari. They
are people like Elrufai and if he made such a statement, it could be
credible.
"The governor of Katsina State could be credible because that
is Buhari’s home state. Another governor is the governor of Zamfara
State, who is close to him. If they were the people, who made the
statement, it deserves to be taken seriously."