Open letter: Obasanjo is just fueling tension and causing a lot of apprehension - APC chieftain

macfranc007 February 04, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Jerrywright Ukwu

- The increasing criticism of the Buhari administration won't force the president out of the presidential race

- This is the stance of an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Malam Mohammed Lawal

- Lawal served as deputy director, coordination/implementation of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in 2015

The increasing criticism of the Buhari administration will not force the president out of the contest in the event he decides to go for a second term, a member of the APC campaign team in 2015 has said.

Malam Mohammed Lawal who served as deputy director, coordination/implementation of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in 2015, said many people and groups were uncomfortable with President Buhari’s ‘pro-masses’ approach to governance, hence were deploying various tricks and sense of insecurity to undermine his popularity.

President Buhari can’t be blackmailed out of power - Lawal

President Buhari has faced intense criticism in the last few weeks from various individuals and groups. Source: Twitter

Speaking to Daily Trust at the weekend, Lawal said: “We are in politics; we would tackle any opposition, any group or gang up, be it a coalition or third force or whatever.”

Mohammed said it would be difficult to oust a sitting president on the pages of newspapers and denied that key people in the APC were planning to leave for the opposition.

“Now, who among the APC leaders enjoying the comfort of government either as an appointee or elected official could afford to go and fish in a deep, dark, torturous and murky waters of political uncertainty?

“But I wish them good luck. It is just that we are not bragging and shouting the way they (opposition) are doing but the time would soon come. We don’t want to distract the government for now; we want the government to concentrate on doing what it has been elected to do but very soon we would devote our attention one hundred per cent to politicking,” he said.

Lawal also accused ex-President Obasanjo of attempting to sabotage the administration of President Buhari.

“What he is doing is not the way to express patriotism; Obasanjo is just fueling tension and causing a lot of apprehension.

“He is still feeling Buhari era is like late Yar’adua era or Goodluck Jonathan era that he planted. We would not fold our hands this time around. We would fight back strongly. If the Federal Government is so careful in speaking out, we the supporters of President Buhari would not sit down and look,” he said.

Similarly, a non governmental organization, Unity and Peace Initiative for the Survival of the Society (UPISS), has said the call by former president Olusegun Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari, not to seek a second term in 2019 is undemocratic.

The organisation cautioned the former president not to derail Nigeria's democracy by his statement, stressing that Buhari has every right as a citizen of Nigeria to seek re-election.

According to UPISS, only the Nigerian electorates will determine whether to accept or reject President Buhari at the 2019 polls.

2019 re-election bid: Should President Buhari heed Obasanjo's advice? on NAIJ.com TV