I have not given up on Nigeria -Buhari

By Tony Akowe, Kaduna.

Buhari

Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the last election, Major General Mohammadu Buhari, said yesterday he remained in the battle to make Nigeria a better place to live in irrespective of his losing the suit to upturn the result of the April 2011 presidential election.

He said he is a firm believer in a better Nigeria,come what may. He spoke at an interactive session in Kaduna with newly sworn in members of the National Assembly elected  on the platform of the party.

The Supreme Court recently ruled   that some members of the party elected into the National Assembly were not the rightful candidates and should therefore make way for those properly nominated by the party.

 The former military ruler said he had been quiet on national issues  in view of the suit filed by the party and morality demanded that he should not comment on a matter in court.

General Buhari said most of the problems rocking the CPC were self-inflicted as some caretaker committee members put in place to run the affairs of the party felt too big for their roles with the result that they insisted on having their way, or making the party pay by losing the last elections.

But he also said whatever action taken by the ruling PDP to undermine the CPC must have been informed by the fact that it identified his party as a formidable enemy that must be crushed.

 He said:”You all know what happened and this was aggravated by attempts by the ruling party to make sure that I am thoroughly undermined in my constituency and where ever I go.

“In the whole of the North East and North West, they committed lots of resources to make sure that I am thoroughly undermined and there was confusion within the party. I don’t blame them, but our members, especially the caretaker committees.

“If you were in the position of the PDP and you are the unchallenged champion with over 20 states and you identified one enemy, the CPC, what will you do? That was why I did not want people talking about the PDP when they are complaining about our problem in the state, especially in the North East and North West.

“My worst problem is that as chairman of the Board of Trustees and with the power of the constitution of the party given to me, I was in a dilemma because of subsequent happenings. Members of the party from the same constituency went to the court and tribunal; members of the party took the party to court’ the party itself was in court from the State House of Assembly to the Presidency.

“I, as chairman of the BOT and presidential candidate said I was not going to court. What will I do?  What is the attitude of the judiciary right from the tribunal to the Supreme Court? So, there was no way I could have been talking. I am effectively restrained by the constitution of the country and by decency, once a matter is before the judiciary, I am not supposed to go and talk.

“But people forgot the restraints put on me by decency, the processes of the electoral act and the constitution of my party. After the judgement at the Supreme Court, I made a statement and I can now talk to you. You don’t need to bring confusion to your own country and that is why I effectively kept my mouth shut.

“The only thing I did was to discuss with the party anytime they come and tell them my restraints and it is up to you to explain to your constituency. It is not as if I have given up anything. No, I have not given up and my address after the Supreme Court judgement showed that I have not given up.

“I said it 25 years ago that this is the only country that we have. You can get a job anywhere; but your children will ask you one day, when are we going home. So, whatever we do, we better do it well and see what we can do about our country”.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and governorship candidate of the party in Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari who led the lawmakers to Gen. Buhari’s office explained that the party went to court to prove to the people of Katsina state and Nigerians that the party won the election in the state and not to obtain justice.

Masari said “what brought us here is to say thank you and pledge our loyalty to you and the CPC who has given us a mandate. Clearly looking at what has happened right from the beginning of the elections to the last election, you will see that CPC clearly won the elections in Katsina state.

“Unfortunately, due to weakness of structures, we lost the governorship seat in the state. When we went to the tribunal, we went there to prove a point not because we expected justice there. We knew that we don’t have what it takes to acquire justice because in this country, you acquire justice.

“We have proved to the people of Katsina and Nigerians that CPC won the elections in Katsina state. Again, the verdict that came from the Supreme Court was what we were expecting and so, there was no manipulation anywhere because there is no way they could have manipulated it to be what it is not.

“We are aware that after the Supreme Court judgement, a lot of interpretations and readings were going around including going to the National Assembly to make sure that the swearing in of the new members never took place.