By Francis Sardauna in Katsina
As the 2019 general election gathers momentum, a former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has lambasted the critics of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, saying that the president deserves his second term bid considering his monumental projects across the nation.
His comments came on the heels of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other critics’ latest scathing comments that the Buhari-led government had been ineffective, incompetent and does not deserve re-election in 2019.
Kalu, who spoke during a courtesy visit to Governor Aminu Bello Masari at the Government House, Katsina on Thursday night, reaffirmed that the president has performed creditably well to deserve his re-election by Nigerians not criticisms.
The former governor of Abia State, who is the coordinator of National Movement for the Re-election of Muhammadu Buhari, declared that no amount of intimidation, blackmail or attacks against the president can stop his second term in office come 2019.
Kalu, who did not mention the names of the critics, said: “When they started attacking the president from that region. I took his permission to go and explain to the people of the region, that the person attacking him is not qualified to attack him and we succeeded in doing that. All the traditional rulers in the region agreed with us that we are doing the right thing.
“He has done very well both for us who did not vote him. Go and see our Niger bridge is been done, roads and many other things are been done in our area. This is his home state, so we took it upon ourselves to also enlighten you people on the need to take him more serious. If you had voted 200 million before we expect you to bring 2.7 million in 2019.â€
Governor Masari, who was visibly overwhelmed by the visit, observed that Nigeria has continued to grapple with the challenge of leaders who never obeyed the law, and admonished President Buhari not be bothered about criticisms but concentrate on his good work for Nigerians.
Describing the critics of Buhari-led government as enemies of democracy, Masari said: “There are those who pretended for a long time and they are still pretenders, especially the person you spoke about. I know so much about him having worked with him. This is somebody whom his utterances are quite different from a real person.”
He commended the former Abia State governor for his message of love and strong belief in Buhari’s capacity to deliver good governance for the country, urging Nigerians to come out and vote massively for Buhari in 2019 to enable him to consolidate on his achievements.
At the palace of the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabiru Usman, Kalu applauded the traditional ruler for his numerous community services and contributions to nation-building, urging him to sustain the tempo.
Kalu has been moving round the states of the federation soliciting for President Buhari’s re-election.
Highlights of the visit was the presentation of Buhari’s re-election planks to Emir Usman, as well as an award of peace to Governor Masari for his contributions towards the sustainability of peace in the state and his role to unite Nigerians during his time as speaker of the House of Representatives.
