Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has said that the 2019 presidential election will be “a straight fight between President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians who are tired of his misrule.”In a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said Buhari would have Nigerians, who would shock him, to contend with in 2019 and not the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or other opposition political parties alone.
Fayose said the tripod on which the Buhari administration was erected had collapsed like a pack of cards. “The international community has said corruption under Buhari is worse that in times past. “Nigerians themselves know that murderous herdsmen have joined Boko Haram under Buhari and the economy, which was booming under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, went into recession under Buhari and has remained comatose.
“For Nigerians, the 2019 election is not about political parties, particularly as it affects Buhari’s presidency.“The election will be Nigerians versus Buhari and not PDP versus Buhari or PDP versus APC, especially knowing how negatively Buhari has impacted the lives of Nigerians,” Fayose said.
According to the governors, with millions of Nigerians thrown out of jobs and an uncountable number of companies folding up on a daily basis, Nigerians in their teeming numbers are waiting for the 2019 election to vent their anger and frustration on the president’s alleged disruptive and destructive policies.
“Buhari has damaged Nigeria. He has damaged the lives of an uncountable number of Nigerians. The suffering and untold hardship he has brought on Nigeria and Nigerians is unprecedented.“Most importantly, he has destroyed the trust of Nigerians in the ballot box and the people can’t wait to send him packing so that they can get their country back.”
Fayose said in 2019, the same shocker of 2015 would be witnessed and it would be a ruder shock for those who believed in their mastery of election
rigging to remain in power.On credibility of elections in the country, Fayose said: “Look at how they subverted the will of the people in Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and recently in Osun. The fact that they had to rig those elections is a clear testimony that Nigerians have rejected Buhari and his party.
Meanwhile, the South West leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have warned President Buhari against victimising Fayose after leaving office in October 15, this year. They also condemned the Osun State governorship election and berated the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly rigging the poll.The warning was contained in a statement issued at the end of the party’s stakeholders meeting held in Ibadan on Monday.
At the meeting were: the National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Eddy Olafeso; Chief Olubode George; Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Olusola Eleka; Dare Adeleke; Chief Bisi Ilaka; and former Southwest chairman, Tajudeen Oladipupo, among others.
They alleged rigging of Ekiti and Osun elections and therefore rejected the results. “We declare our disappointment in the administration of Buhari for his inability to preside over a nation where votes must count.
“We also give due cognizance to the earlier conducted Ekiti State election and the serious assault and battery of the Governor Ayodele Fayose. The conduct of the election itself, the massive vote buying that characterized it, the vote stealing and compromised posture of INEC, hence, reject the election result as it does not represent the electoral desire of the people.
“Therefore we support our candidates in the two aforementioned elections in Osun and Ekiti states to take concrete legal actions to recover their mandates from the roguish APC that is now becoming notorious for election rigging.“We also note that Fayose’s tenure comes to an end in a couple of weeks from now, therefore we wish him well in his future endeavors. We, however, observe that the Buhari administration has clearly indicated its desire to intimidate and harass him.
This attitude is cheap and very pedestrian.“Thus we declare our solidarity with Fayose and promise to stand firm in his support in the event of the prosecution of petty vendetta against his person.”
