The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus has attempted an interpretation of the observed U-Turn made by President Muhammadu Buhari on the number terms he would run for presidency and claimed that whoever the All Progressive Congress (APC) party presents for presidency will be floored by his party candidate in 2019 elections.
It would be recalled that Buhari had during the build up to 2015 elections, made it clear that he would only run for one term, but he recently declared his interest to run for second term in office last week before jetting out to London.
In an interview with chairman of PDP in Abuja on the summersault by President Buhari to go for second term in office, he said “Nigerians can now see for themselves the nature of the deceit and the character of the president they voted for, a president who is fighting corruption in a crude manner and not in a civilised way”.
“Nigerians can now see the military style of this administration and they can as well see the honesty and integrity of the president. A man who said he will only do a single term like (Nelson) Mandela. Suddenly, he changes his mind and despite all the challenges he is facing, he still believes that he can steer the affairs of the Nigerian ship in the next four years. It is for Nigerians to decide but I believe President Buhari is not honest. You already said you are running for one term but you suddenly turned around and said you are going to run again. He said it clearly that he will run for one term in 2011. I believe that is betrayal of trust,” Secondus averred.
On the chances of any PDP presidential candidate to beat any All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate in 2019 election, Secondus said “I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that we will present a credible presidential candidate that will be acceptable to all Nigerians. Such candidate will emerge through a free, fair and credible democratic process”.
“I am confident that whoever flies the flag of our party will defeat the presidential candidate of APC, including President Buhari because I don’t see Nigerians voting the APC back to power again. They have failed in all their promises.
“In fact, it was a colossal failure and they themselves know that they have disappointed Nigerians. They promised one Naira to a Dollar, today it is N362 to a Dollar. They said if Buhari becomes president, fuel will be sold at N40 per litre. Today, fuel is being sold at N145 per litre and above N200 in some places. They visited hunger and untold hardship on the masses. “The economy today is in shambles. People are losing jobs on a daily basis. Unemployment rate is on the highest level and killer herdsmen are on rampage. They have failed virtually on all that they promised. So, why will any sane person ask them to continue in another four years? Nigerians have experienced both APC and PDP and they can see that the difference is very clear. While agreeing that PDP made some mistakes, Prince Uche Secondus argued that “We were humble enough to admit it and promised to right the wrongs in the future. So, I am optimistic that our candidate will beat the APC candidate, even if it is Buhari by a wide margin but we are appealing that the election should be free and fair”.