The Director-General of the All
Progressives Congress Presidential
Campaign Organisation, Rotimi
Amaechi, on Tuesday called on
Nigerians to vote out President
Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015
elections.
He said only a “strong leader” like
Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
(retd.) could tackle insurgency and
corruption in the country.
Amaechi said prayers alone could
not rescue the nation from the
brink of collapse and
underdevelopment.
Amaechi, who is also the Rivers
State governor, addressed
journalists in Lagos at a maiden
press briefing on his plans to drive
the party’s efforts to win the 2015
presidential election.
Also at the briefing was the
Chairman of the APC in Rivers
State, Davies Ibiamu-Ikanya.
The APC had, last week,
announced Amaechi as the
Director-General of the Buhari
Presidential Campaign
Organisation.
Amaechi also promised to drive an
issue-based campaign that would
ensure victory for the APC.
He said the APC presidential
campaign would commence a
nationwide campaign in the early
part of next year.
Amaechi said President
Jonathan’s administration was too
weak to tackle insurgency.
He recalled that when Chadian
rebels invaded Borno State in the
past, it was Buhari that deployed
troops to chase them away.
He said, “You need a strong leader
to chase away Boko Haram or
Boko Haram will chase us away.
There are reports that 32 persons
have been killed in Bauchi and
Gombe; so you need a Buhari to
actually fight the insurgents.
“Insurgency continues not because
we have a bad military; our
soldiers are well trained. It is
because they are not well funded.
The period when the money gets to
the military and before it is
released, somewhere, some amount
of money disappears.
“So, we have to deal with the issue
of corruption and that is where the
military is having problem. If they
are not properly equipped, they
cannot fight insurgency. So, we
have to deal with the issue of
corruption.
“You want to kill 50 military
officers who are saying, ‘please
equip us properly, I can’t go to the
battlefront without the right
weapon. Now you are sending him
to fight a man with RPG and you
gave him an old AK47. He says
you are risking his life. They have
a right to protest that. You don’t
kill them for that.”
When our correspondent asked him
how Buhari would tackle post-
election violence in the North if he
did not win the presidential
election as witnessed in 2011,
Amaechi said the game had
changed, insisting that Buhari
would win.
He said the issue of violence would
not arise because Nigerians would
massively vote for Buhari, because
they are tired of the Jonathan
administration.
Amaechi, who berated President
Goodluck Jonathan for condoning
corruption, urged Nigerians to take
action and not believe that only
prayers could solve their problems.
He added, “The former Central
Bank of Nigeria’s governor said $
20bn was missing, he (Jonathan)
sacked the CBN governor for
saying that but the Minister of
Finance said they could not
account for $10.8bn. Whether it
was $10.8bn or $20bn, the fact is
that something was missing…
somebody should be resigning. But
in Nigeria, nobody cares about
that.
“The Presidency did not bother but
was asking Nigerians to pray as if
God created prayers for only
Nigerians. ‘Don’t worry we are
praying, God will settle 2015 for
us’. God has created us with
brains and hands, just like he did
for the British. They have legs, just
like we have our own legs. Why do
we go back to God all the time. We
don’t take time to find solutions to
our problems after praying. But
here we pray and after praying, we
do nothing. We will be waiting for
God to cause miracles to happen.”
Speaking on how he would
combine the office of the governor
and the campaign group, Amaechi
said he would rely on the help of
his deputy who he described as
“very efficient.”
Amaechi also advised President
Jonathan to caution his
spokespersons against falsifying
facts.
He added, “After my appointment,
people tried to tarnish my image
that I have not paid eight months
salary. Anybody who said I have
not paid him salary should come
forward. I have paid up to
December. You can call Rivers
State.
“I was surprised that a presidential
spokesman said I funded the
election of Gen. Buhari, and that I
owe teachers in Rivers State eight
months’ salaries.
“And I asked the question, for you
to be a presidential spokesman;
facts and statistics must be on
your palm. You shouldn’t joke with
facts.”
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