Elder statesman, Engr. Bubu Galadima, said Nigerians must all join hands to send President Muhammadu Buhari back home in 2019 general election.
Galadima a critic of the president said he has grossly under-performed, asking the people to give Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, a chance to put the country on a growth pedestal once again.
According to him, the greatest offence of President Buhari is his failure to secure lives, properties and bring food in the homes of Nigerians.
Galadima made the call at the unveiling of a group called Enyimba Progressives Association, EPA, in Abuja on Saturday.
Regretting ever marketing Buhari before the world and supporting him to become president in 2015, Galadima said he would tend apology to the people through the world renowned media outfits.
Galadima, who is also the chairman of the Reformed All Progressives Congress, R-APC, a breakaway group of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC refuted the insinuations that Buhari clan impacted on his performance.
The Yobe-born politician and former ally of the president said that maintained that Buhari was naturally a ‘bad’ man who does care about peoples conditions.
While asking Nigerians to join hands and vote Buhari out next year, he enjoined them to try Atiku who has pledged to perform better, saying that if he (Atiku) fails as well, he should be shown the way out in 2023.
He said: “I stand before you to tell you if there is any body that brought Buhari into politics, it is either me or us. Today, I will stand here to tell you that we should all put our hands together, strengthen ourselves and throw him out through the ballot box.
”I can tender public apology on BBC or CNN. Of course, if there is any person that promoted him from January 2002 to date, I can hardly be number two if I am not number one.
“Why does he have to go? The answer is simple. He has been accused of so many crimes. Some of them true, some of them may not even be true. I can tell you that.
”But the greatest fault he has is that in my religion, Islam, I am a Muslim; the leader is everybody’s father. During the Kalim Umar reign as the leader of Islam across the world, the man could not sleep in the night.
”He would go around in the town, trying to find out who is hungry. And God said that even an animal sleeps with hunger during your reign, you are held responsible let alone human beings who cannot eat three square meals per day.
”The responsibility and the whole thing is entirely on his head and he doesn’t give a damn. For me, that is his greatest offence.
“Therefore, if there is no compassion, people are being killed, maimed, communities are being wiped out, disasters are happening, he never gave a damn for two and half years. He couldn’t even visit the people to commiserate with them. What kind of a leader is that?
”So, the man is bad not because he is Hausa or Fulani but he is bad. Muhammadu Buhari is bad. So, he should go and rest. Why I am saying so is that there is a lot of Hausa and Fulani people that are being killed, may be sleeping with hunger. This hunger, poverty, killing knows no bounds.
“What we need in Nigeria is the person that can protect lives and property of individuals. And we should on changing leaders. We should keep on changing them until we get to the best. Buhari is bad. All of you should rise up. He should go in 2019.
“For now, my group has not taken a position as to who to support. I supported Kwamkwaso and I want to assure that all the candidates, forget about the primaries, he is the person that has got tentacles across the country. But the issue is that Any Body But Buhari, ABB, let’s try Atiku. If he doesn’t perform, let’s throw him out. Obasanjo doesn’t like Atiku but he has said he is better than Buhari. So let’s make progress.”
Galadima also advised the gathering graced by Dr. Jamila Tafawa Belewa, son of Nigeria’s former Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Belewa and many Igbo youths to forget the injustices of the past and integrate with all Nigerians for the actualization of the country’s president of Igbo extraction.
He said that the people should see all parts of the country as one rather than clamouring for Igbo president as if they have a parallel country.
“If there is a bomb attack here, it is not only Igbo people that will die. Things that are gone, we shouldn’t reminding ourselves. We should integrate ourselves and become brothers and sisters irrespective of religion and tribe. At least, that is what Nigeria national anthem is promoting.
“When you keep on saying it is Igbo, nobody will trust you with the leadership of Nigeria because the leadership is not for Nigeria not for Igbos. I keep on telling my friends, at least those that can understand that when you keep on drumming that it is the turn of Igbo, it is not an Igbo President.
”What we need is a president of Nigeria including Igbos and Hausa’s. When you keep on drumming that it is Igbo, then people become suspicious and they may not give you that chance.
”What we want is an Igbo man to be President of Nigeria and treat the Yoruba man, Hausa man as his own people. That is what we should be looking towards so that we build a nation.
“The entire population of my village is not more than 500 people but the richest man in that village is an Igbo man. If my village is attacked now, he may be one of the victims because his properties are outstanding.
”He has made investments. He has a chemist where every sick persons runs to. He is helping to build the community. He has been one of us. He speaks the language”, he said.
Also speaking, Dr. Tarawa Balewa said that Nigeria needed a new set of leadership with different line of thought to revive the country.
He told the people to live as one, saying time for aggression and animosity against the tribes was over.
“Why can’t we be Nigerians on our own soil? Why can’t we enjoy our diversity? I honestly don’t know. We know what discrimination is and in a federal Republic as Nigeria, we are supposed to be equal. We need to see ourselves as others see us outside. We are disunited. There is something very wrong.”
“We still have people in government who are analogue. We need to think a little big different. This country needs some revival”, he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, Barrister Ihechi Ike, the Director-General of EPA, had called on President Buhari to review his position on the declaration of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB as a terrorist organization.
He said: “We also want to use this opportunity to call on President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari to review his stand on the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist organisation. We believe that a father does not declare war on a child asking for his right. They are our brothers and sons not outsiders.
“This is not a call based on sentiment alone but we have investigated both locally and internationally and have come to conclusion that they are not and have never indulged in any act that can be termed ” terrorism “.
