- Chief John Oyegun expressed confidence in President Buhari winning 2019 elections
- The former APC chairman however said the president needs the support of everyone
- Oyegun said ordinary Nigerians have a role to play in the election too
The former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Oyegun has called on Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari describing him as the best person to lead the nation for the next four years.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Oyegun said although the ruling All Progressives Congress had internal issues, he expressed optimism that the party will unite and President Buhari will win again in 2019.
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He said: “My attachment to the president started way back when he was military president. I think outside Murtala Muhammed, Buhari was the first to appreciate the need for disciplined society, the need for basic ethics both in our business undertakings and dealings with international communities as well as the need for basic morality; the need for our people as a society to know the difference between right and wrong.
“That is a challenge we still face as a people. It isn’t the challenge of brick and mortar: that’s how many kilometers of roads you have built or how many schools you have renovated. It is the challenge of reorienting the basic morality of us all as Nigerians. Learning to do things properly, learning to accept due process, learning to accept that might is not necessarily right. What I was told about him and what I have heard up to today, there is absolutely no reason to change that impression of him.
“What he needs is our genuine support. What he needs are men and women of passion who will help bring to fruition the corrective measures he has put in place and is still pursuing.
“So, my support, apart from that original empathy with him over many years, when you look around the field in any case today, both from his achievements and considering also the field, I consider him by far the best person we have for president in the next four years. So, in whatever capacity he has my support and I will continue to make that available in whatever manner that is necessary to enhance his potential for victory.”
Asked about his opinion on southeast leaders who have endorsed Atiku Abubakar for presidency, Oyegun said the political relevance of the ordinary people must not be underestimated.
He said: I don’t think it does. There is one mistake our leaders continue to make, that’s to underestimate the voting public like farmers, market women, and labourers. These people know what is happening in the society and they don’t need to depend on anybody in particular, except die-in-the-wood party people like us and the rest of it.
So, if a church says the congregation should vote for party X, everybody would just say yes and go home. They would still vote for whomsoever they have decided to vote for. That is the situation we are in in this country. That is why I emphasised the issue-based politics. The average Nigerian is aching, he knows you cannot solve all his problems. But he wants to be sure that you are going to make a good trial. And he wants to have hope that this man he is going to vote for, all things being equal, he is likely going to start the process of improvement to his personal circumstances so that he has hope for the future, if not for himself for his children. That is what motivates the average Nigerian.
It is not because some organisations adopt X. We are going to have a lot more adoptions. I expect some presidential candidates to withdraw until 30 political parties support candidate X. You know the horse trading will start soon and you will get more absurd declarations. That is part of our politics and some party leaders do it for their own personal reasons. But it is at a cost to them because they are underestimating the voting public.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that no fewer than 26 All Progressives Congress aspirants of the state House of Assembly in Ogun state defected to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
The defectors were aggrieved aspirants who alleged that the mandate given to them during the October 7 legislative primary of the APC was stolen by the national leadership of the ruling party.
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Source: Legit.ng
