President Buhari Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said all those who defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition political parties were the selfish and weakest members whose disposition failed to align with the vision of his administration.
Buhari stated this while accepting the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms to contest the 2019 Presidential election on the platform of the APC donated to him by a group known as Nigerian Consolidation Ambassadors Network (NCAN) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Prominent among those that defected from the ruling party to the opposition PDP were Senate President Bukola Saraki, Governors of Benue, Kwara and Sokoto, Samuel Orton, Abdulfattah Ahmed and Aminu Tambuwal respectively.
President Buhari who expressed gratitude for being honoured by the mainly youth groups drawn from different parts of the country said that his vision to rescue the nation began in 2002, adding that the country reached a hopeless state in 2006, hence his decision to contest for the Presidential position in 2007.
According to him, his decision was predicated upon the state of hopelessness in the country where, he noted, selfish interest of elected leaders superseded national interest, pointing out that the 2007 election in the country was a national disgrace.
“I am honoured today to receive youths from all over the country contributing to buy the form for me. The weakest whose sense of expectation does not align with our vision have exited our party,’ president Buhari said.
Alleging that corruption was fighting back, President Buhari said, “We now have a party of strong and patriotic people who are ready to work for a strong Nigeria.”
The President listed his achievements since assumption of office to include completion of rail projects and new ones under construction, government support to farmers, as well as the rehabilitation of fertilizer plants, introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) he said has helped the administration to tackle the menace of stealing in public service as well as provision of jobs and cash for the most vulnerable Nigerians.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Deputy Chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT) NCAN, Chuckwuemeka Nwajiuba said the members of the group who facilitated the purchase of the Expression of Interest Form for the President where made up of three million Nigerians after a triple A assessment of the performance of President Buhari.
He stated that the group was convinced to purchase the form on the bases of President Buhari’s commitments in the fight against graft, terrorism and the effort to revive the economy.
The presentation was attended by the Minister of Transportation, Director-General (DG) Buhari Campaign Organisation, Rotimi Amaechi, Attorney-General Of The Federation (SGF) and Minister f or Justice, Abubakar Malami, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha, Spokesman of Buhari Campaign Organisation, Barr Festue Keyamu, Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, and Hajiya Farida Sulaiman.
