Buhari: ‘I’m confident of winning’

Ahead of Saturday’s presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said he would win. The President hinged his confidence on his performance and integrity. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN sought opinions of Nigerians on the president’s claim.

The standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturday’s presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari, has predicted his victory ahead of the contest. He made a similar prediction in 2015, which eventually came to pass. Some Nigerians believe that the president is on the verge of winning again, given his soaring popularity and performance.

A political analyst, Dr Baba Aliyu, said the president was right to say he would win, because there was no credible opposition that can match his personality and integrity. Aliyu said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in disarray. He said other aspirants who contested for the ticket with Atiku Abubakar who eventually won the primary have not supported his bid.

Aliyu said: “The likes of Rabiu Kwankwaso, Sule Lamido, David Mark, Ahmed Makarfi, Aminu Tambuwal and others have distanced themselves from Atiku’s campaign. The opposition party is weak; there is no unity of purpose among the leaders. It shows that they are not pleased with the emergence of Atiku as the PDP flag bearer.

“I could remember that Makarfi warned his party (PDP) not to give the presidential ticket to the highest bidder. He said the party should present a candidate whose integrity could match that of President Buhari, because the president is still very popular in the north. Makarfi warned that if the moneybag emerged as the presidential candidate, the PDP should just forget 2019 presidential election.”

Aliyu observed that all the 24 states controlled by the APC have adopted Buhari as their presidential candidate. He said: “Even in states like Ogun, Imo and Zamfara, where there are intra-party crises over governorship primaries, they have pledged to work for Buhari’s victory. In states controlled by the opposition parties, some of them are working for Buhari. He will improve on his performance this year in the Southsouth and Southeast, where he scored about five per cent in 2015.”

Civil right activist, Comrade Moshood Erubami, agrees with Aiyu.  He said the absence of a credible opposition is an added advantage that that will make Buhari win the other parties hands down and make them to lose their deposits.

The President of Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTASS), a civil society group, said there two kinds of opposition parties presently. He added: “There is the PDP, which remains its own problem; its past has been blotted by its antecedent of robbery and empting of the treasury, clueless sense of good governance. The leadership of the party is bereft of character that can convince Nigerians to vote for the PDP to win again in the next elections.

“There are some of them in the legislature that are marking their last sojourn in the parliament. Some will contest their elections in detention for their offences against the state. Some will not come back to continue their leadership position in the 9th National Assembly. All these will add up to make it easy for the president to win and run good government in the coming dispensation.”

On Buhari’s achievements, Erubami said the government has now shown leadership in the construction of roads and railway lines. He said there were verifiable achievements that cannot be denied, which will win him election in 2019. He listed some of the road projects as follows: Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway; Yola–Hong-Mubi road; Umuahia-Ikot-Ikpene road; the construction of the second Niger Bridge; Bauchi-Azare road; Kano-Jigawa-Maiduguri expressway; dualisation of Yenegoa road junction-Kolo-Ituake in Bayelsa and the rehabilitation of Alesi-Ugeb road in Cross River State.

Others are the rehabilitation and expansion of Lagos-Ibadan highway; the rehabilitation of access road to Apapa/Tincan port; the reconstruction of Nasarawa-Loko-Alushi road; the emergency repairs of collapsed Tatabe bridge, along Mokwa-Tegina road in Niger State; the reconstruction of Benin-Ofusu-Ore-Ajebandele-Sagamu expressway; the rehabilitation of Gbogan/Kwara State border road; the construction of Pankshin-Tapshin-Gambar-Sarka-Kal-Gindiri road in Plateau State; the Bodo-Bonny road with bridges in Rivers State and Kaduna eastern bypass.

They also include construction of Nnewi-Uduma-Uburu road in Ebonyi;  the construction of Lokoja-Benin expressway;  the rehabilitation of Enugu-Onitsha dual carriageway; the construction of Efon Alaaye-Erinmo-Iwara road in Ekiti; the reconstruction of Gombe-Numan-Yola road; the construction of Ikot Ikpene border-Aba-Owerri dual carriage way; the construction of Tsakuwaran-Galambi road in Jigawa; the repairs of Kaduna-Abuja express road; the dualisation of Kano-Katsina road; the rehabilitation of Zaria-Gusau-Birni Kebbi road; the reconstruction of Sokoto/Tambuwal/Jega/Kantagora/Makera road and the rehabilitation of Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa- Birni Gwari road.

For the rail project, he said the Buhari administration has completed Kaduna-Abuja rail line started by the PDP government and that the Warri-Aladja rail line has also been completed and being test-run, while the Lagos-Ibadan rail will be ready for commissioning next month.

Erubami added: “In the areas of agriculture, the following commodities are now being produced locally in an attempt to diversify the economy: rice, maize, cassava, soya bean, wheat, fish and poultry products. In power sector, the government is already excelling in the building of Mambila hydro electric power plant located in Taraba State, Northeast zone. On completion, it will generate 3050 megawatts to make up for the targeted over 10,000mw.”

A social scientist, Dr Abubakar Alkali, said a poll research conducted by his firm on 2019 elections has shown that President Buhari is in pole position to win the election. He explained thus:  “In terms of popular votes, the APC seems to have an edge in the big two- Lagos and Kano states controlled by APC. The total number of registered voters for Kano and Lagos is 12, 028, 038 which is 14 per cent of the total number of registered voters. This says a lot about the likely outcome of the election in terms of popular votes.

“APC is certain to win the popular votes and in a good position to satisfy the constitutional requirement of 25 per cent in at least two-thirds of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It is likely that APC would satisfy this requirement.”

He said the projected total votes for President Buhari is 30 million votes (71.4 per cent) as against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s 12 million (28.5  per cent).  On state by state analysis, he said the president is likely to win in 26 states namely, Lagos, Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Yobe, Niger, Edo, Akwa Ibom, FCT, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Nassarawa,  Kwara, Plateau and Osun.

“Our projected results indicate that President Buhari of APC will win the 2019 presidential elections with 30 million votes or 71.4 per cent while Atiku Abubakar will score 12 million votes, he concluded.

Similarly, a public affairs commentator, Simeon Kolawole had given five reasons why  Buhari would win the 2019 presidential race. He said when you look at the numbers of the registered voters, you would realise that the APC strongholds of Southwest and North have the highest number of registered voters. The Southeast and South-South where anti-Buhari sentiments are strong are still playing catch-up. If the North and Southwest settle for Buhari again, then Buhari will win.

He said: “The PDP has become a joke since it lost power at the centre in 2015. The party as it is presently constituted is still the strongest opposition platform. But, its brand image is not sparkling. After overcoming the internal imbroglio that nearly decimated it, the PDP is now perceived as the property of one or two governors.”

Kolawale said Buhari is still much loved on the streets of the north. Everywhere Buhari has visited in the North has been the same story. Surging crowds chanting ‘Sai Baba and delving into a frenzy each time the president puts that legendary fist up. For all his faults, Buhari remains a huge factor in the politics of the North.

He said the continued defection to APC is a major factor that will favour Buhari’s re-election bid.  He explained, “The APC currently has 24 states in its kitty. Juxtapose that the PDP’s 11 and APGA’s one? When the PDP ceded plenty of grounds to the APC in 2015, most of its members began to empty into APC. The mass defection continues at a frenetic pace till today. Don’t be surprised if the APC sweeps more states in 2019, because PDP members are daily emptying into the governing party in droves. We may just end up with a mono party democracy in 2019 and that would be bad for everyone.

Kolawole said the perception of Buhari’s fight against corruption has won him public support. He said: “Nigerians who actually possess Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) may just hand Buhari another term because he is not a thief. These Nigerians have also been told that the thieves are the ones frustrating Buhari and who want to stop him from getting another term. Barring a miracle, it will be Sai Baba till 2023 and there will be just enough humble pies to go round, he concluded.

It appears President Buhari has made an in-road into Niger Delta given the declaration of the youths to support his second term bid. For instance, the Ijaw youths had assured the President of their votes in the forthcoming general elections. The youths under the aegis of Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide insisted Buhari deserves a second term. They said they were excited by Buhari’s plans to allocate oil blocks to Niger Delta oil –producing states to facilitate development in the region.

The group spokesman, Daniel Dasimaka, said the only way they could reciprocate the Buhari’s good intentions through his programmes and projects in the region is to reward him with a second term. He said: “Buhari won our admirations when he resisted pressure mounted on him by haters of the region to scrap amnesty programme in 2015. Besides, he deserves a second term to enable him consolidate his agenda in the region.