From the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, came a promise to Nigerians yesterday that he will make them proud.“I will make sure that Nigerians are proud to be Nigerians wherever they are”, Buhari pledged . He spoke when APC delegation from Delta State led by the governorship candidate, Olorogun Otega Emerhor, visited him at Defence House, Abuja.
He reiterated that his in
coming government will reform the electoral system, generate employment for youths, wage war on corruption and provide security in all the nooks and crannies of the country.
The President-elect allayed the fear that his administration may not be favourable to sections of the country that did not vote for his party, the APC, announcing that his interest is how to address challenges that are militating against the country .
He said: “I thank you for mobilizing yourselves to come and congratulate me for winning the presidential election this year. I assure you that my objective of remaining consistently in partisan politics is to make sure that Nigerians are given their inherent right as citizens of Nigerians to choose whoever they want to lead them .
“It is not a favour for them as Nigerians, but a constitutional right as citizens of this country. I will not support anybody who will undermine that right of Nigerians by whatever means.
“To use the military and other law enforcement agencies and worse still, to give drugs and weapons to unemployed youths and send them to kill their own people is the worst thing anybody aspiring to leadership can do to his country.
“I assure you that what I will concentrate on ensuring that Nigerians will be proud to be Nigerians whereever they are,” he said.
Gen Buhari maintained, “I assure you that APC’s first objective is security . One of the things that is destroying the economy is lack of security and unemployment.”
In his speech, Emerhor, who was accompanied by Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo and former House of Representatives member, Hon Mercy Almona-Isei, lamented that the residents were not allowed to choose their leaders.
He listed the problems facing Delta and indeed Niger Delta, pleading with Buhari to address them.
He said: “We would like to bring to your attention how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) disenfranchised the people of Delta and the South-South at both the presidential and governorship elections. As our submission to the tribunal in respect of the governorship and state Assembly elections will demonstrate, in truth, majority of Deltans were ready for the change you represent and were geared to vote massively for you and APC, unfortunately, a grand design executed by the PDP in the South South and South East and particularly Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom made sure that no proper election took place.
“Result sheets were confiscated and results fabricated, written and allowed to parties giving PDP massive votes while alloting paltry votes to APC in order to portray it as not existing in the two zones. To provide a cover for this vote manipulation, PDP also resorted to violence and intimidation and ballot box snatching as a smoke-screen. They effectively compromised both INEC and the security forces and this secured the declaration of PDP as winner in these states against the will and preferences of the Delta people and the two zones. Through the CTC of the Card Reader report that we have obtained from INEC, we have unearthed the massive fraud that PDP perpetuated in Delta State. We have filed our petitions to cancel these bogus elections in the tribunal in Delta State. Our election petition shows that while announced voter accreditation was over 1,017,796, the actual Card Reader accreditation report shows only 709,700. A cursory look shows that the votes allocated to the PDP governorship candidate (724,680) alone exceeded the accredited voters as recorded by the Card Reader report. With these anomalies, we are indeed very optimistic that the governorship and Assembly elections in a Delta State will be nullified and a rerun ordered. As you are aware, Delta State along with Akwa Ibom and Rivers are the rich oil resources and the PDP is determined to hold on to these states at all cost to utilize the huge revenue base of these states to re-launch itself to national reckoning. It is therefore, strategic for the APC and your administration to pay particular attention and to assist us to break the stronghold of the PDP in Delta and the other states.
“On a general note, we also know that you are fully conversant with the challenges of Niger Delta which include militancy, pipe-line vandalisation, oil theft, environmental degradation and others. We assure you that the region will welcome all efforts by your administration to address these challenges and hereby offer our support and co-operation to resolve the challenges doe the General interest of Nigerians,” Emerhor sa
