Ex Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has come hard on
current President, Goodluck Jonathan, over the escalating security
challenges facing the country and said that the President lacks the
political will to quench the uprising.
Boko Haram have been killing people and destroying properties in the nation since 2009 and with the Nigerian military looking unable to stop them.
Atiku said that the current situation is worrisome and appalling and said this needs to end so that the local citizens who are the victims of such attacks could live in peace.
While speaking with the Voice of America, VOA, the APC man said: “The security situation in the country, I must admit is appalling. I have never seen it this bad – not even during the civil war did we have this sense of insecurity all over the country.”
Atiku also said that Nigeria deserves a leader with exceptional political will to resolve the current crisis threatening the nation, he said: “What we need to have in place is a political leadership that has the will, the courage and the determination to restore law and order.
"Restoring law and order is a
multifaceted approach; both social, economic as well as security. You
must have a political leadership that has vision, the will and the
courage to pursue those multifaceted approaches.
"It’s not supported by any empirical
evidence. I think we should stop passing the buck at each other,” he
said, adding “As long as this security situation is concerned, we should
work as a team, the whole country.
Whether opposition, whether ruling party, we should work as a team to make sure that we restore peace, unity and stability.”
He also went ahead and boasted that his party the APC has a great
chance of defeating the leading party PDP in the 2015 elections.
“I have never seen a climate that
gives the opposition so much hope than today. Because since the return
of democracy, Nigeria has been governed by only one ruling political
party, and Nigerians really want to see a change.
"I toured the country and this sense
of change is pervasive. So if the APC can put its house in order,
Nigerians will give that party the opportunity.”
When asked if he would attempt to run for the Presidential position
again, he said: “All I was trying to do is to make sure that we provided
Nigerians an alternative opposition.
"This is because I am a firm believer
in a two-party system. A two-party system will provide Nigerians with
alternatives from time to time. A single major or powerful political
party will result into a one party system and will ultimately land us
into the hands of a dictator. And God-forbid, I don’t wish to live and
see a dictator in Nigeria.”
Atiku Abubakar was Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 till 2007 under
the General Olusegun Obasanjo administration, he later went from being
one of the creators of the PDP, to one of the major stakeholders of the
APC after he defected last year.
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