Presidential candidate of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Maj-Gen Muham-madu Buhari (rtd) has said if elected President, he would adopt dialogue rather than military option in resolving the Niger Delta problem.
Speaking at the party’s presidential rally in Port Harcourt, he also insisted that elections must hold, inspite of the death of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) Presidential candidate, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, saying, “this government knows that for four years from 2003, there will be another elections, they have no excuse not to have a credible election, so there will be elections.�
The former head of state blamed the soaring crime wave in Port Harcourt and the entire Niger Delta region on poverty and unemployment which he blamed on the ineptitude of government.
Buhari who arrived almost six hours behind schedule said that the biggest problem of the country is security which the Niger Delta situation typifies and pledged to do everything within his power to pacify the region which he admitted was not getting its fair share of what it deserves from the country.
�When we get to power in May, we shall invite the youth with their elders and enter into dialogue to address the problem. The approach I want to adopt however does not include military solutions�, he said.
The ANPP Presidential candidate who was dressed in a white flowing agbada said he has a mission to liberate Nigerians from the vicious circle of poverty and insecurity through establishing a conducive business environment where poverty would be addressed.
He said Nigerians should expect his administration to tackle the issues of security, stability and prosperity, adding that he shall address the issue of power supply and persistent fuel scarcity due to abandoned refineries.
According to him, one proof of the bad administration of the Peoples Democratic Party in the past eight years was that all the refineries they inherited are still not refining oil, thereby making the country dependent on imported fuel.
He also charged the crowd to resist rigging and guard their votes warning in the last elections when it was clear that the polls were rigged, his attempt to get redress ended up keeping him in court for over 33 months so it would be better to guard the votes.
Also in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State capital, Buhari tasked traditional rulers in the Niger Delta on the need to ensure that the 2007 general elections is not only free and fair, but it should impress the world, even as decried the decision of the international community not to monitor the elections in the region.
“I am personally disappointed and am still disappointed at the decision of the international community that they will not participate in the electioneering supervision in the Niger Delta. I think it is more of a challenge to the Niger Delta and the rest of us outside the Niger Delta.�
While addressing party supporters at Mbaise Secondary School, playground, in Aboh Mbaise Local Government of Imo State, the ANPP presidential candidate also said he believes that it is only a crime-free nation that could make enormous development both in the economic and social sphere.
He said, “you have seen through all the programmes of the ruling party, the PDP for almost eight years now, but I assure you that the ANPP will do a different thing so that Nigerians will benefit from their own abundant resources”.
Also speaking at the Port Harcourt rally, the National Chairman of the Party and Vice Presidential Candidate, Chief Edwin Ume Ezoke said that Buhari is a man whose integrity is generally attested to by all Nigerians.
He said that the issue of corruption would be fought with all sincerity as Buhari did not fall into the class of looters, pointing out that he is the only former head of state without a house in Abuja .
Apr42007