The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, John Oyegun, in an explosive interview with New Telegraph, has declared that President Muhamamdu Buhari, remains the party’s best bet for the 2019 Presidential election.
He said the Buhari he saw during a recent meeting between the President, and some leaders of the party, in London, informed his conviction.
This came as a reaction to former President, Goodluck Jonathan’s address at the Peoples Democratic party, PDP, National Convention, on Saturday, in Abuja.
Oyegun mocked the former President and the PDP, describing them as dreamers.
He said: “Whether the President seeks re-election or not, that is a decision only he (the President) can make. And when he makes it, in the unlikely event that he makes that decision, he is not just going to walk away. If Jonathan, a defeated President, who wants to rule this country, can be talking about coming back or his party coming back, what of a very charismatic President, who even without money had 12 million votes behind him. So, the comparison is odious.
“APC will still retain power, but we pray that he (Buhari) contests, because he is our best card right now. Everything is in the hands of God, but if for any reason he decides not to contest, but I don’t foresee that, he is still President Buhari and he will still work for the party, and we will have a candidate that he still blesses. But, that is an unlikely event, because the Buhari I saw is building up strength and energy. Let us keep decisions into the hands of God.”
He further said of the former ruling party’s boast: “They have a right to dream, because you don’t have to pay anything to dream.
“We are on the ground, we are working and the people are aware of the atrocities they have inflicted on this nation. It is clear that there is no going back to PDP, but if they want to dream and bask in false hope, we cannot deny them.
“Jonathan lost an election, how does he think he is coming back? We haven’t even got to the bottom of the injury and damage they inflicted on this nation. If we could defeat him as a sitting president, what of now that he is in opposition and not just opposition, but a fractured, guilty and condemned opposition, which brought this country to its knee. I don’t know where they got their bravado from?”
When reminded that the former ruling party is talking tough and saying that it is ready to take over power in 2019, the APC National Chairman said: “That is not the point. The point is whether the people of this country are ready to hand over power to a party that decimated the country.
“Nigerians are no idiots, they may be suffering economic hardship now, but they are not idiots. They know what happened to this country. Of course, they wished their condition today was better, but they are not going to hand over power to those who were responsible for decimating the country.
“Stories are coming out every day and these are facts. There is nothing giving them confidence. It is just bravado. And bravado doesn’t depend on strength; it means making the world to think that you have strength. Look at Korea and United States; the United States can wipe Korea out of the face of the earth, but when the Korea leader speaks, he gives the impression that they can wipe US out of the face of the earth. These things happen every day.
“So, we are not losing any sleep over PDP at all because they are yet to find their feet. I even pray they find their feet because we need them to keep us on our toes. We don’t want a country without a reasoning opposition, but they shouldn’t get their ambitions too high.”
