Aishat Buhari, wife of the All Progressives Congress, APC’s presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, has advised the First Lady, Patience Jonathan, to jettison any fear of being jailed if Mr. Buhari wins the forthcoming election, saying Nigerians are more concerned with changing the way the country is administered.
Mrs. Jonathan has repeatedly spoken at campaign rallies for her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, about her fear of a Buhari presidency, saying the former military ruler will jail Mr. Jonathan and other leaders of the present government.
In Edo State on Tuesday, the first lady warned women against voting in Mr. Buhari, saying she was not prepared to feed her husband in prison.
But at a rally where she interacted with women in Edo State Thursday, Aishat Buhari said there should be no concerns about going to jail.
Mrs. Buhari also said that the attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to portray her husband as a religious fanatic, is a desperate attempt to hoodwink the people, saying only those who want to loot the treasury are the ones campaigning with religion.
“Each zone of the country has its peculiar problem. For me in this zone, girl-child trafficking should be considered one of our problems, though I know there is unemployment. Unemployment is the major factor that contributes to brain drain and also the girl-child trafficking. General Muhammadu Buhari is a leader who led Nigeria some decades ago and he is coming back now to sanitise the system,” Mrs. Buhari said.
“For those that are campaigning, saying that he is coming to jail Nigerians, I don’t know what their fear is. But they shouldn’t be afraid, because we are all yearning for change. The insecurity in the country, the very poor healthcare system, lack of education and other basic necessities that people are lacking I believe Nigerians need somebody like General Muhammadu Buhari now.
“Already, they have painted him black, using religion. I’m happy today that Nigerians realize that they use religion as a cover to loot Nigeria. Any politician who talks to you about religion is a liar, he only wants to loot the treasury and the little resources you ought to enjoy. So say no politics merging it with religion to deceive the people.
“I’m here today to let Edo women know that when my husband is elected into office as President, all these will be history. The insecurity, the girl-child trafficking, suffering of the widows in the South East will come to an end. There must be a cultural design that can accommodate the widow. A design that would make the girl-child comfortable wherever she is in this country. She doesn’t have to leave her country to go and prostitute elsewhere, it’s not her portion. Her portion is to have a highly standard and moral society for her to live in. Get married, have children, train them and also mould them to become the future leaders.
“We are here today to also let you know that the collection of your PVCs is important and don’t ever sell it. It’s like selling your future. If you sell it for N5,000, you won’t see N5,000 again until after four years which will be bad. Get your PVC, vote for APC, vote for freedom, vote for a new Nigeria with good security, good education, good healthcare, good roads and all the basic necessities.”
In his address to the women, Governor Adams Oshiomhole urged them to vote for the APC since the PDP has failed in 16 years to deliver on electricity and other basic infrastructure.
According to him, the PDP government fleeces even the poor through kerosene sale.
“In 16 years, PDP did not provide light, we provide the transformers to the communities but the PDP Federal Government cannot power the lights. They collect fixed charges from the people when there is no fixed light.
“They say there’s power reforms, however instead of reform, they deform. They advertised to employ people into the Nigeria Immigration Service and use private company to charge the applicants N1, 000 each. The private company collected over N800 million from poor youths and took them to the stadium to conduct an interview, at the end people died. Instead of the Minister in charge to be reprimanded, he was given national honours.
“You need to understand the issues. Our call for change and for people to vote for the APC and vote out the PDP is because the PDP has completely failed and deceived the people for 16 years. So they must go home.”
The people must vote for APC to return Nigeria from darkness to light, from unemployment to employment and from insecurity to security.”
He flayed some religious leaders who want to polarize the country along religious lines, saying the problems facing the country affect both Christians and Moslems so Nigerians should ignore the attempt to hoodwink them and preach hatred using the religion card.
In an address of welcome, wife of the state Deputy Governor, Endurance Odubu, said Nigerians have made up their minds to vote massively for the All Progressives Congress.
She noted the achievements of Governor Adams Oshiomhole in Edo State and said when voted into power, Mr. Buhari will replicate it at the national level.
She assured Aishat Buhari that Edo women will vote massively for the APC.