2019: APC senator, BoT member in war-of- words

…We may lose polls as we’re yet to fulfill any promise – Sen Abba Ibrahim
…Nasiru Danu: You’re mischievous, APC has done well despite challenges
Former Yobe State Governor and a serving senator, Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe, APC) and a member of Board of Trustees (BoT) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Nasiru Danu, have expressed divergent views over the chances of the party during the 2019 polls.

Sen Abba Ibrahim has claimed that current situations of the socio- political and economic trends in the country are indicators of an imminent defeat for President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling APC in the 2019 general elections.

He also claimed that his party (APC) has failed on virtually all pre-2015 election promises, saying that social and economic conditions of Nigerians have been worsened by the Buhari administration as he claimed that the people are bitter.

But Nasiru Danu, the APC BoT member, has debunked the claims of Sen Abba Ibrahim, saying that the ruling party is addressing the infrastructural deficits in the six geo-political zones in the country despite challenges.

Danu added that it was laughable for an APC senator whose wife is a serving minister to castigate his party for selfish reason, knowing that the party is doing its best in fulfilling its campaign promises.

The three times former governor fired the first salvo when he said that as a progressive, his hopes have been dashed by the supposed progressive party that has lost every tenet of progressivism and not better that the previous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) it sought to replace.

Sen Ibrahim dropped this bombshell on Saturday night in a 17-paragraph speech he delivered at the world-wide internet launch of a book he co-authored with Dr. Sam Egwu, titled: Poorlitics, at the Barcelona Hotel, Abuja.

He went ahead to declare that nothing will save Buhari from the imminent defeat as realities on ground show that Nigerians are worse off under him within the last three and half years than they were throughout the 16 years of governance under the PDP from May 1999- May 2015.

His words: “As we move towards the elections, I have to give a dire warning to the APC that things are no longer the way they were in 2015 when we road to power on a cloud of euphoria believing that things will change for better.

“Simply put, things have not changed and many things are getting worse and the people are bitter. We should not assume that we can win even with massive rigging.

“The economy has gone down because of our action and inaction and we are blaming the past too much rather than solving the present problems.

“I had in mind that Progressives will be in power and will show Nigeria how to run a progressive nation.

“Without mincing words, as an elder statesman, I must say that my dreams and hopes have been dashed. We have certainly not done what I dreamed we will do, and in many ways, we are no better than the PDP that we sought to displace”.

To save the party of iminent defeat, Ibrahim projected certain things that progressive such as APC profess need to do and must be seen to do.

He said: “We must be seen to obey the rule of law. If courts rule, we must obey. We must respect the separation of powers and let the legislature make its Independent decisions”.

He also chose the occasion to set an agenda for the North East geo-political zone comprising Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba states ahead of 2019 polls, saying the support or otherwise of the people of the zone for Buhari’s candidacy and the APC is not automatic but conditional.

Senator Ibrahim said the North East should not be taken for granted since it is not a must for it to support Buhari from the North West as both zones only came together for the first time under one political umbrella in 2015 since several decades of party formations and democratic governance in the country from 1950s till date.

His words: “In fact, the politics of the North East has always been different from the politics of the North West and it was under APC that we all united for the first time.

“I am going to give a dire warning. Let the North East not be taken for granted that we must support the APC.

“Our interest in the North East has always been progressive and I will personally be watching for required improvements in the APC before the elections.

“Improvements that can guarantee victory such as respecting the rule of law and releasing political prisoners as well as unselective war against corruption as against one sided witch hunt”.

He categorically stated that if the APC under Buhari did not get its bearings in terms of good governance before the 2019 general elections , the North East will have no any other option than to vote for candidate of another political party.

It is instructive to note that former Vice President and PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is from Adamawa State in the North East zone.

“I shall sit back and continue encouraging my party do the right thing. But if we don’t, I still reserve the capacity to ask my people to go our separate ways and do what must be done for good governance to reign in Nigeria,” he added,

Faulting the claims of Sen Bukar Ibrahim, the APC BoT member, Nasiru Danu said: “I hope the distinguished Senator is not being misquoted. This is because he is a respected leader of the ruling APC.

“But if it is true that he said what you quoted him as saying, then I disagree with him. It is wrong for any member not to talk of party leader that we have not done anything. That is not true on the grounds of what is happening nationwide. The records are there that the APC has done well.

“The APC-led Federal Government is doing its best to address infrastructural deficits in the six geo-political zones without discrimination on party affliliation despite some challenges.

“The senator knows and he is aware that Yobe State is one the greatest beneficiaries of the APC and it still work in progress.

“For the records, President Muhammadu Buhari- led Federal Government came to power on three distinct agenda- War against corruption, security and revival of the economy.

The President and his team have been working on these agenda in the last three years and the party is going to run on its achievements to win the 2019 polls.

“We know that there are issues arising from the primaries in the party. But all the stakeholders are currently working to resolve the contentious issues.

The time has come to stop the blame game. The APC is the party to beat in 2019 and we will win the presidential election by the grace of God.”