Former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has described the proposed national conference as a joker by the Federal Government to confuse Nigerians and cover its failures.The All Progressives Congress, APC, leader noted that the only panacea to stop election rigging in Nigeria was for the opposition parties to come together.
He said: “Once we come together we will be strong enough to prevent election rigging. Otherwise we will be picked off piecemeal.”
Buhari spoke yesterday at the special dinner organised by the Progressives Governors’ Forum, PGF, held at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja. The event, which stretched into late in the night, was attended by all the progressives’ governors.
However, the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, was absent at the dinner. This is as Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, said his parley with APC was an indication that he was already on his way to the party.
Buhari explained that though there was nothing wrong in calling for a conference to discuss a problem, the issue was whether the conference had been conceived in good faith or not. According to him, APC does not believe in the conference.
He said: “Amidst this ineptitude and general confusion, the government has thrown in a joker.
“Now there is nothing basically wrong in sitting down and talking about your problems. The snag is whether the conference has been conceived in good faith or not. “We in APC think not. We suspect it is an attempt to muddle the waters, to befuddle the issues and to mask the failures of a clueless government.”
The former presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, added that elections since 2003 had been massively rigged.
He said: “One example should suffice. In 2007, presidential elections were conducted on plain sheets of paper, violating a fundamental requirement of the Electoral Act, 2006.
“At the national collation venue after 11 states and Abuja results were sent, Prof. Maurice Iwu left the venue and announced the ‘result’. No wonder three Supreme Court judges found that this was too much and ruled that the election be cancelled
In a remark, former Lagos State Governor and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, described the seven aggrieved governors from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as beautiful brides, saying other progressives should join hands to prevent rigging of 2015 elections.
Source: National Mirror
