Only Restructuring Can Rescue Nigeria, Says Makarfi

PRESIDENTIAL aspirant and erstwhile chairman, National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, has said unless Nigeria embraces restructuring, the country may continue to be haunted by socioeconomic and political ills.

He declared that if he defeated President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential elections, the nation would be restructured for better growth.

In a statement by his spokesman, Mallam Mukthar Sirajo, in Ebonyi State at the weekend, Makarfi said: “restructuring is not what a leader wants, but what the people want. I chaired the technical committee that set the agenda for the National Conference under Obasanjo, even though some of the items were removed from the report. We need to bring Nigerians together to dust that report, remove what is obsolete and add what is new, and do whatever Nigerians resolve”.

On allegations that he is too gentle to lead Nigeria, he said: “People said I was too gentle to defeat Sheriff, what happened? Don’t be deceived by my looks. It is the action. In Kaduna State, people saw my actions. People said I was too gentle to handle the Kaduna mafia, but what happened? Those who think I’m weak will be shocked, but Nigerians will be happy.”

Makarfi further said he was the first governor to appoint non-indigenes into his cabinet.