- Says restructuring key to economic prosperity
Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Saturday noted that democracy would have been a thing of the past in Nigeria if the National Assembly did not provide critical intervention to save the country from descent to despotism.
Saraki, a presidential aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he was determined to rescue Nigeria from what he described as the rudderless government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the federal level come 2019.
He expressed the views yesterday during a visit to Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose in Ado Ekiti, noting that the country “requires a president that can give the people a sense of belonging and also ensure that we have true democracy.”
Saraki was accompanied by his Director-General of Campaign Council and the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Hon. Mohammed
Wakil, Senate Minority Leader, Chief Biodun Olujimi and Sen. Duro Faseyi among others.
At a session with Ekiti’s PDP delegates, Saraki called for restructuring, noting that there “must be restructuring so that states could maximise their potentials. We are at a cross road. We see great danger with our democracy. That is why your state has had a terrible experience with the kind of democracy.
“If not for what we have been doing at the National Assembly to sustain and protect our democracy, there will be nothing like democracy in Nigeria by now. So, it is important that we look for a courageous and capable president that we can be proud of. We need a president that will ensure we have true democracy.
“Before now, we have been voting based on sentiment and ethnicity. So, we need a leader that will allow you to reach your goal. It is time we restructure and have a state that would be able to maximise their potentials.
“Let us look for someone who can understand how to rule and partner with investors for economic gain and that aspirant is me, the senate president noted.
Also speaking at the session, Fayose called on all the aspirants gunning for the presidential ticket of the PDP to accept the outcome of the party primary election slated for October 6, 2018 and work for the success of the party.
The governor said he was not supporting any particular presidential aspirant, noting that he had cautioned his colleagues that they should allow the process to be credible.
Fayose stated Nigerians “are waiting for the PDP to liberate them. We must be united to be able to rescue them.”
Fayose threatened to back out of the primary election if the process is not credible, lamenting that the future of the country had already been mortgaged and saying somebody should tell Buhari to please go home and rest.
He noted that the appointment of Yusuf Bichi by the president as the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) further confirmed that he was insensitive.
He said Buhari “is supposed to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We never know we can get here. I am sure you joined the APC because you thought Nigeria would be better. Nigeria no longer has gear one to five.
“Everything is now in reverse gear. So, Mr. Senate President, you are welcome to the PDP, our Jerusalem. But the APC is the Egypt,” the governor said.
