Go ahead and contest, forum tells Buhari
Forum chides Obasanjo over comments
President Muhammadu Buhari should go ahead contest re-election in 2019, Forum of Non-Governmental Organizations in Nigeria (FONGON) urged him yesterday.
The forum said it has uncovered a plot by some economic saboteurs to demonize the president and hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians to vote against him.
It however said 200 NGOs in the forum will embark on a fight to the finish to ensure that Buhari continues in office.
FONGON made its position known in a February 6 letter to Buhari which was read at a mass rally at the Unity Fountain in Abuja.
The rally is to kick-start a nationwide mobilization support for the President.
National Coordinator of FONGON, Comrade Wole Badmus, who read the letter said the NGOs came together to “serve as a countervoice to the naysayers and looters who are increasingly dominating the polity.”
“Mr. President, we have chosen to come out this time because there seems to be an orchestrated and well-choreographed campaign going on across the country at the moment to demonize Buhari administration and hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians into believing that the administration has achieved nothing since assuming office,” FONGON said.
It added: “The looters, economic saboteurs and unpatriotic fellows are feeling the heat of Buhari administration’s fight against corruption.
“They are earnestly yearning for a return to the immediate unedifying past in which the national treasury became the piggy bag of a few.
“Your Excellency, the recent spate of letter and memo writing is not an accident.
“We believe there will be more letters and more voices urging you not to run. And we urge you (Mr. President) not to heed such calls. Those Who are for you are more than those who are against you.
“We are concerned that unless an urgent action is taken, the voices of these people, whom we believe are being sponsored by looters and their ilk, may become the dominant voices.”
“Mr. President, your administration is putting Nigeria on a solid footing. We believe you have what it takes to do it but that all Nigerians must give you their unalloyed support because it will not be an easy task. After all, it is easy to destroy than to build.
“We (members of the FONGON) will match The Forum for Peace and Good Governance has called on an exPresident, Olusegun Obasanjo, to be mindful of his choice of words while commenting on national issues, including the appointment of service chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The forum, in a statement the naysayers’ propaganda for propaganda, memo for memo, and rally for rally. We will go from door-todoor, house-to-house, city-to-city and state-tostate to let Nigerians know the good work that your administration is doing.
“As we say never again to the enemies of the nation, looters and criminals taking charge of our nation’s affairs, we pray that Allah will continue to strengthen, guide and protect you. We pray to God to give you more wisdom and good health to pilot the affairs of this great nation. signed by its Chairman, Muhammad Ali, was reacting to a press statement credited to Obasanjo which quoted him as saying that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government ignored federal character in the appointment of service chiefs.
Obasanjo was quoted to have said that the ethos of nation building through even distribution of public offices had been abused under the current administration.
The group recalled that during Obasanjo’s tenure, the composition of the Nigerian Armed Forces and paramilitary organisations were “increasingly culturally monolithic” despite of the federal character principle which he was today talking about.