No quality alternative to Buhari - Balarabe Musa
- Balarabe Musa said Buhari has the right to contest in 2019
- He however said the president has failed to perform well
- The former governor said their is no alternative to Buhari in 2019
Former governor of old Kaduna state, Alhaji Balarabe Musa has said that there is no qualitative to President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
In an interview with The Punch, Musa said that although President Buhari has fallen short of expectation, there is no alternative to him.
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He said: "The performance of President Muhammadu Buhari since he came on board in 2015 has fallen short of the expectations of Nigerians. In other words, he has been unable to fulfil promises he made before he got the votes of Nigerians. I can reasonably say without fear that his government has failed.”
On the call by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo asking Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019, the former governor said Buhari has the constitutional right to.
He said: “No. I won’t support it because I know the antecedents of Obasanjo. He is a former president of Nigeria and he was not able to solve the problem that his coalition is proposing to solve. What has he learnt better? It (the coalition) will fizzle out just like its predecessor.
“Nothing stops him (Buhari) from contesting. After all, every elected public office holder in Nigeria has the right to seek a second term. Did Obasanjo himself not defy public opinion and even seek an illegal third term because it was not provided for in the constitution? He sought a third term and he failed. In the case of Buhari, he is entitled to a second term by law. Whether the issue of a second term will work in President Buhari’s favour is another matter altogether.”
Asked if he would advise Buhari to run for presidency, Musa said he would not but said there was no alternative.
He said: “No. I won’t bother myself too much thinking about that because if today Buhari decides he won’t run for a second term, do you have a better person now in Nigeria who can perform better than Buhari? Up to the end of the Second Republic, when (the late Chief Obafemi) Awolowo, Zik (the late Nnamdi Azikiwe), Aminu Kano and so on were there, you could say ‘if not Awolowo, Zik is competent’ and so on. There was, at that time, a clear alternative available for Nigerians; whether you liked it or not, it was a distinctive alternative. But today, where is the alternative?
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"We are now in a situation where there is no alternative or it is difficult for the alternative to emerge because this is politics and election in which ‘money power’ plays a leading role. So, it is not possible to find a qualitative and relevant alternative to Buhari at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Presidency on Monday, November 6, assured Nigerians and the international community that the 2019 general elections will be free and fair.
Presidency also said the 2015 general election was credible just because of the then chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega.
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Source: Legit.ng
