2015 elections will be a watershed –Buhari...

DAILY INDEPENDENT Former military Head of State and a national leader of the of All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, has predicted that the 2015 general elections would be another watershed in the Nigerian political scene.
He said the members of the APC decided to come together to save Nigeria from bad governance.
Buhari spoke on Tuesday while addressing a political rally when a delegation of his party paid a visit to Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
The APC team was led by former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu.
Buhari described Amaechi as a bridge between the state and other parts of the country in terms of political consultation in the past few months.
He noted that with a population of about 170 million people, Nigeria must be rescued from misrule, adding that with APC coming as a strong opposition to the ruling PDP, the next general elections would be a decisive one.
“We are at a cross road in this country. 2015 is going to be another watershed in Nigerian politics. We decided to come together as a party so that we can rescue this country from bad governance.
“From Maiduguri to Badagry, from Katsina to Port Harcourt, the situation is the same.
“Our population is getting to 170 million and we don’t need a bad government any more in this country. Between now and 2015 is going to be a period of great work so that we can save Nigeria from bad governance,” Buhari said.
Also speaking, Tinubu warned that Nigeria cannot make any progress in an atmosphere of intimidation and lies, adding that the progressives have offered Nigeria a saving boat that will take the country to greater heights.
“We want you to ask Governor Rotimi Amaechi to lead you to APC. We have to join hands in creating a strong economy for Nigeria as we win the next election come 2015.
“Amaechi has given the children of the state the greatest weapon to fight poverty and that is education”, he said.
On his part, Interim National Chairman of the APC and former Governor of Osun State, Bisi Akande, lashed out at the PDP over the propaganda and intimidation against Amaechi, adding that APC is the party for the “good people of Rivers State and Nigeria”.
Akande described Amaechi as “a bundle of courage and brilliance.”
Meanwhile, Rivers State chapter of the PDP has said the “open confession and resolve of Governor Amaechi and his suspended lawmaker supporters while hosting the All Progressives Congress leaders in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, is an eloquent testimony that they had long decamped from the PDP.”
The party in a statement by Jerry Needam, Special Adviser on Media to the state Chairman, noted that the demand on Amaechi by suspended lawmakers loyal to him and led by Otelemaba Dan Amachree for an immediate defection to the APC “is a mere camouflage to hoodwink Rivers people into believing they are being wooed to join the party.”
The statement described the “formalisation of the marriage between Governor Amaechi and his new found love, the APC,” as “a good development which calls for thanksgiving by all men and women of goodwill in the state.”
Also speaking at the rally,
Amaechi threatened to mobilise people of the state to confront the Nigeria Police, given the role the Police Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, has been playing in the state politics.
Amaechi described Mbu as a political wing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying, “We must mobilise ourselves to confront the Nigeria Police.”
“Go home and mobilise yourselves. The day I call on you to come out, don’t hesitate because we must confront the police. You must get ready to march. There is no revolution without blood.”
Amaechi described himself as a peculiar member of the G-7 Governors (factional PDP Governors), adding that he would consult all the elders of Rivers State, including President Goodluck Jonathan, if he will join the APC or continue with the PDP.
“I am peculiar in the group of the G-7 Governors because the President comes from this zone (South-South). I will consult the President. I will consult all consultables.
“If I am going to remain in PDP, the President will come here and address you people. But if I am going, then Tinubu will address you all”.
Amaechi amazed the crowd when he said he has been dancing since the burial of late Madam Charity Fynface Oba, mother of Jonathan’s wife, Patience, at the weekend at Okrika because people predicted that he would be stoned if he dared step his feet at the ancient kingdom.
“They said if I come to Okrika, they will stone me. But when I got there, I raised my hands and people haled me and I said God, I thank you.
“Secondly, I danced because they said they were going to remove me as Governor. They have been saying this since 2007, yet I am still the Governor of Rivers State.
“They are not God. They said they will remove me on Monday. I will dance here before all of you because I know that my God is alive.
“No one is greater than God. These people are thieves. One of them got a contract from the Niger Delta Ministry to construct the road from Eleme to the Imo River and he has not done it. They are thieves. Any time they are ready let them come for a debate”, he said.
The Governor said his prayer everyday is that God should protect the people of Rivers State so that “thieves” will not come to rule them again.
“My prayer is that God should not allow these people to come back and steal Rivers money again”.
Another report from Minna on Tuesday said a founding father of the PDP in Niger State and former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana, and immediate past Governor state, Abdulkadir Kure, have called on National Chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur, to help them secure the party’s state secretariat.
Findings by our correspondent in Niger State capital indicated that the duo constitute part of the group responsible for the crisis within the PDP in Niger State where the Governor, Babangida Aliyu, has refused to leave the secretariat despite his insistence that the party ‘must’ be restructured for peace to reign.
The source who is sympathetic to the Tukur-led group, and who would not want his names made public, told our correspondent on Tuesday: “We are the authentic PDP members in Niger State; we want to go to the national chairman to assure him that we are with him all the way”.
According to the source, who claimed that the Governor was working against the collective interest of stakeholders, added: “We also want him (Tukur) to help us get a new state secretariat since the Governor is refusing to leave, claiming the secretariat was built with Niger State fund and owned by all”.
It was also gathered that the Jerry Gana-led group loyal to Bamanga Tukur is mobilising people from all the 25 local government areas to pay solidarity visit to the national chairman today to pledge their support.
“Each person that agrees to go with us from the council areas will be entitled to N3,000 while all the leaders from the LGA will get N300,000 each”, the source explained.
When contacted, state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Hassan Saba, said he was not aware of the developments.