The president spoke Thursday when he received the newly-installed Emir of Dutse, Jigawa state capital, Alhaji Muhammad Hamim Nuhu Sunusi, at the State House Abuja…… CONTINUE READING
He said the stunning outcome of 10 governors failing to make it to the Senate meant that there is no longer a guaranteed route to power and the voter is truly the king when it comes to elections.
“It is a testament to the maturity of our democracy and to the amazing sophistication of the voter. What shocked me was that the ordinary citizen who is usually underrated has made the point of his political understanding of things. Assumption is always that you are Governor for eight years and you go to the Senate to crown the career. No one should underrate the Nigerian voter anymore. Politics will be more difficult, henceforth,” President Buhari said.
After listening to the Emir who listed several government projects put in place for Jigawa state under the Buhari Presidency, and a request for some more, the president promised to do his best for the state in the remaining time left, and to brief the incoming President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on those requests, agreeing with visitors that the particular problem of water supply to the state capital was worrisome.
President Buhari told the Emir and members of the Emirate Council who accompanied him that he and the entire nation would continue to miss his friend, the late Emir, Alhaji Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi.
The Emir and leader of the delegation, Alhaji Muhammad Hamim, thanked the Buhari administration for helping Jigawa state to excel in major rice production, for approving a rail link to Dutse from Kano and for the restoration of peace to the state, the entire nation and the neighbouring countries that had suffered past insecurity.
The Emir also welcomed the upgrading of the Army Battalion in Dutse to a full military Brigade and requested the president to do something about the acute water shortage affecting the state capital.
Obasanjo tasks Tinubu
Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked the incomingadministration to prioritise reconciliation of all interests as a way of dousing tension generated by the 2023 general elections.
Obasanjo said this Thursday while speaking at a conference organised by Nextier and the Ibadan School of Governance and Public Policy themed ‘From Elections to Governance and Performance’, in Abuja.
He said the incoming administration must work to facilitate national moral rearmament and reconciliation following the divisions along ethnic and religious lines occasioned by the just concluded general elections.
Obasanjo said the move has the potential to bring about healing and also assuage Nigerian youths angered by the perceived shortcomings of the election.
“Given what we saw during the election, Nigeria is now even more divided and more corroded than we thought. This places a deep onus on any administration following the current one, to urgently facilitate the process of national moral rearmament and national reconciliation for the aggrieved and will lead us across Nigeria and to assuage the youth,” he said.
The former leader said governance in Nigeria now required thinking outside the box to rescue the nation, in terms of the plunging economy and huge national debt.
With challenges facing the country, Obasanjo said he is “too old to keep quiet” as he would continue to voice concerns for the benefit of the nation.
“Let me conclude by stating clearly that I am now too old to keep quiet and watch Nigeria’s seemingly clueless launch into dystopia. All efforts are now required from all committed patriots to rescue the nation from the precipice,” he said.
Nnamani on interim govt
In a related development, a former Enugu state Governor Senator Chimaroke Nnamani has berated the proponents of Interim National Government (ING) , saying it is treasonable and an affront to the sensibility of Nigerians.
Nnamani described ING as absurd and has no place in the modern day democratic rule.
“The presidential election has been conducted and a winner has been declared. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2023. ING is a needless distraction,” he said.
Nnamani, who is the current lawmaker representing Enugu East in the Senate reiterated that “Asiwaju will be sworn in on May 29, 2023 and he will hit the ground running.”
He assured Tinubu would not deviate from his avowed commitment to the programmes of social protection, national transformation and restructuring.
Nnamani, a contemporary of Tinubu as governors in 1999, expressed optimism that a Tinubu-led administration would address critical infrastructural development, youth unemployment and youth bulge, women empowerment as well as the challenges facing the girl-child.
The former governor predicted that a “Tinubu-led government will give priority to budget enhancements needed to address complex issues in the Health, Education , Social Service sectors including portable drinking water and environmental sanitation.”
He expressed optimism that the incoming administration would rejuvenate International recognitions and awareness that will attract other nations to invest in Nigeria and consequently, turn the nation’s economy around.
The lawmaker therefore called on Nigerians across the divide to support the incoming administration which he hopes “will be a government of national unity where no section of Nigeria will be marginalized or shortchanged in the scheme of things.”….. CONTINUE READING
