BUHARI LAUD FOR ENTRENCHING DEMOCRACY
President Mohammadu Buhari has been lauded for deepening democracy and creating a level playing field for all parties to participate in moving the nation forward politically.
Obong Ime Gamble fca, who is one of the foremost political leaders of APC right from the days of ACN, and one-time gubernatorial aspirant who handed over to Obong Umana Okon Umana in 2015, made this known to newsmen in his Ikot Ekpene Road office recently.
According to him, looking at it from the context of what APC is doing in entrenching democracy; we see the spread of infrastructure and life-touching projects across the geopolitical zones, which should not be confused to wish them on the part of PDP.
On all the elections so far conducted by INEC from Bayelsa to Edo and recently Ondo, Obong Gamble described President Buhari and his APC government as the best thing to happen to Nigeria, given his strict adherence to due process and fair play in all electoral matters.
In his view, parties and politicians should accept the concept of “win some and lose some” in any political contest and not allow the win all mentality to becloud their sense of direction. He pointing out that the outcome of the just-concluded Edo election gave PDP a little impetus to try themselves again and struggle on but did not give them a clear view of what awaited them in Ondo where they went with all enthusiasm and got beaten with a wide margin.
He praised the federal government for meritoriously doing well to boost the economy and raising the standard of living of the people despite all the strangulations by some hostile state governments.
“Under the watch of President Buhari, the steel sector in Ajakuta and Aladja will soon come on stream. The Railway that had been abandoned by successive governments of defunct NPN to present-day PDP over 43 years is now operating. Look at the airports which have all been internationalized by the present federal government. Other projects about to be commissioned include the new Inland Port at Onitsha and the second Niger Bridge to mention just but a few, are all credited to President Buhari’s government.
Obong Gamble, therefore, called on all Nigerians to support President Buhari and take advantage of the myriads of economic programmes put in place by the federal government such as; the N-Power for the unemployed youths. The School Feeding Programme which, in some PDP states, has been cornered by politicians to enrich themselves. The agricultural projects and the non collateral interest free loans for small entrepreneurs by the Central Bank are possible courtesy of President Buhari’s magnanimity.
Obong Gamble bared his mind on the #EndSARS protest and described it as “a concept of different strokes campaign, celebrated in utter negation of the spirit and true essence of the tragic course protested”. He decried in very strong terms, the wanton destruction of government and private facilities and the looting spree by the protesters with attendant loss of lives.
Citing the National Office of Statistics report which rate Akwa Ibom as a state with the second largest labour market, he advised the youths to rather protest against legislators who are doing nothing but are amassing humongous wealth in the state.
Expressing optimism on the takeover of the state by APC in 2023 to make the difference, the Nsit Ubium born entrepreneur cum political leader, dismissed as a charade, the conduct of local government election for only PDP, pointing out that “AKISIEC being an appendage of the government, cannot acquit itself as an independent body to be trusted by other parties”. He asserted that for APC and other parties not participating in the election this time around, is not a true situation that PDP is on the ground in the state”, he concluded.
