2019 Polls: Buhari Deserves 2nd Term – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says President Muhammadu Buhari deserved a second term having impacted the lives of Nigerians positively in the past three and half years.

He also said that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is not troubling to the All Progressives Congress (APC) because the power to elect leaders at all levels resides with Nigerians.

According to the Minister, the Buhari presidency has done so much to deliver on its three campaign promises of fighting corruption, tackling insecurity and revamping the economy.

He therefore faulted the hues and cries from opposition elements claiming non-performance, noting that the current administration is not only investing in huge infrastructural developments but also reinventing the most ambitious social programme ever witnessed in the country since independence.

Speaking on Channels Television programme, “Politics Today” on Sunday night, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the President had leveraged his legendary integrity and acumen in managing resources both human and materials to re-invent governance within the polity.

The Information Minister stated that besides ensuring people do not loot the nation’s treasury at will, the President has effectively positioned Nigeria for honour and respect in the comity of nations while also addressing the challenges posed by insecurity across the country.

He said; “Today, under President Buhari, Nigerians can dream and hope because he has rebranded governance and put the country on the path of sustainable growth and development.

“He is investing in infrastructure and reinventing the most ambitious social programme in the history of the nation.

“The President is ensuring that the people do not loot the common resources and ensuring that Nigeria is self sufficient in food production

“Above all, he has brought honour and respect back to the country and fighting all sorts of insecurity in the country,” he said.

On the President’s non submission of his certificate to INEC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed described it as “a non issue and a mere distraction” from political opponents who do not find anything untoward against the President and his candidacy.

Insisting that Nigerians have moved beyond that and other irrelevant issues being canvassed in certain quarters, the Minister said; “Let me quote what former President Olusegun Obasanjo said in 2015 during this saga of the President’s certificate.

“Obasanjo said that it is an insult on a man, who rose to the echelon in Nigeria Army, attended the War College in the US and Staff College in Nigeria, for anyone to start asking whether he has a certificate or not.”

“I think I want to rest this case on that because it is a non issue,” he said.

He also stated that the President is in sound health, having fully recovered and fit to discharge his duties.

On ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, he said the All Progressives Congress (APC) was not troubled because “it is Nigerians that will decide who will govern them”.

“It is Nigerians that are going to vote at the 2019 elections. They will make a choice between going back to the era of inefficiency, looting, decay in infrastructure and the era of integrity, when the economy is being revived and insurgency is being tackled.

“It is not what Obasanjo says that matters because I am sure Nigerians will make the right choice.”

Expressing confidence that President Buhari’s track record will see the Nigerian electorate endorsing him for a second tenure come 2019, Lai Mohammed also debunked claims that government is currently intimidating the opposition.

He said the federal government would not be distracted by the antics of opposition parties as the country’s approaches next year’s general elections.