The spokesperson of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign organisation,
Femi Fani-Kayode, has alleged that the All Progressives Congress, APC,
spent N5 billion to set up a speaking engagement for its presidential
candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, at Chatham House, London, last week.
Mr.
Buhari on Thursday presented a paper titled “Prospects for Democratic
Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition” at Chatham House in
London.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday in Abuja, Mr.
Fani-Kayode insisted that Mr. Buhari was actually in the U.K. for
medical purposes and that his presentation was hurriedly arranged while
he was in London and his party paid for it.
“The APC leaders begged for the speaking engagement and we are reliably informed that they paid for it.
“The
information at our disposal indicate that no less than N5 billion was
budgeted for the London jamboree,” Mr. Fani-Kayode said.
The spokesperson also claimed the people in the hall at Chatham House on the day were sponsored.
He said 1,500 persons applied to attend the function but only 200 were allowed in.
He
added that the audience was carefully selected and that most of them
were Nigerian students studying in the Republic of Ireland on a
scholarship by the Rivers State Government.
“The students were
threatened that their scholarships would be withdrawn if they refused to
participate in the rally,” Mr. Fani-Kayode said.
“This was the show of shame that General Buhari has got himself involved in.
Sadly Chatham House offered its prestigious platform to sell a bad product to the world.
The
campaign spokesperson also said part of expenses for the speaking
engagement included numerous foreign consultants, air tickets for the
huge delegation, the contingent of governors, hotels bills, the purchase
and renting of vehicles and other logistics.
“We challenge the APC and its leaders to contradict this information,” he said.
The
spokesperson also challenged Mr. Buhari to face President Jonathan on a
debate in Nigeria, since the APC believe he did well during his outing
at Chatham House.
He said it is surprising that Mr. Buhari is
willing to talk to a foreign audience, as if he is seeking election in
the United Kingdom.
“The ‘arrangee’ Chatham House event is
another ploy, like the purported London interview, to hoodwink Nigerians
and prevent General Buhari from debating in Nigeria. But we insist,
General Buhari must debate in Nigeria
“As a party, we are happy over
this latest development as it will no longer give Buhari any excuse not
to debate when he returns to Nigeria. The APC no longer has any hiding
place, but to put General Buhari through a similar coaching course like
in the UK, to debate in our beloved country on any media of choice with
our candidate, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan” he said.
Too late a democrat
Mr. Fani-Kayode said Mr. Buhari has “finally” admitted that ”democracy is a journey”.
He said it is a pity that it has taken Mr. Buhari 31 years to admit this and voice it.
He
said if Mr. Buhari had appreciated that point 31 years ago, he would
not have betrayed his own Commander-in-Chief, President Shehu Shagari,
and remove him in a coup d’état and take his seat.
He quoted the
former head of state’s speech at Chatham House, where he said, “It is
globally agreed that democracy is not an event, but a journey. And that
the destination of that journey is democratic consolidation – that state
where democracy has become so rooted and so routine and widely accepted
by all actors.”
Mr. Fani-Kayode said, “We are glad that Buhari is now saying the right things but sadly it is too little and too late.
“The
fact of the matter is that he went ahead to truncate that democratic
journey and took Nigerians through the darkest period of the most
primitive and barbaric form of military rule.
“If he were in
South America or Pakistan he would have been either jailed or hung for
what he did to the Nigerian people 31 years ago.”
He said it was
unfortunate that Mr. Buhari did not take advantage of his Chatham House
address to apologise for truncating democracy in Nigeria and that the
opposition candidate has done nothing in 31 years to help consolidate
Nigeria’s democracy.
“We challenge him to tell Nigerians and the
international community anything tangible that he has done in the last
31 years to consolidate democracy in Nigeria.
“Can General Buhari
give what he does not have? Can he come to power through the ballot box
after taking it through the barrel of a gun?”
The campaign mouthpiece also said contrary to postulations, Mr. Buhari’s outing in London was not all successful.
He said the retired general goofed when he said at Chatham House that he would draw foreign investors to Nigeria.
“If
the APC and General Buhari were (not) in sane and in their right
senses, they would have known that under President Goodluck Jonathan,
Nigeria has become one of the most preferred destinations for Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) in the world,” he said.
He, however,
expressed joy that Mr. Buhari admitted that under Mr. Jonathan, Nigeria
is now the largest economy in Africa with a GDP valued at $510 billion
and the economy rated 26th in the world. He said that was the first time
Mr. Buhari admitted that anything good was happening in Nigeria under
the watch of President Jonathan.
The former minister, however,
added that “General Buhari lied when he said that the Jonathan
administration “has created two economies…one economy for a few who have
so much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the other economy for
the many who have so little in their vast ocean of misery.”
“General
Buhari should have gone further by naming those he knows who live in
“their tiny island of prosperity” and who are bankrolling his
presidential campaign, having told the whole world that he paid N27
million for his nomination form through a bank loan.
“Regrettably,
General Buhari failed to admit the fact that but for the menace of
terrorism which he and his party tactically support, our economy would
have grown even faster and done even better.”
SOURCE: premiumtimesng
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