Members of the defunct Congress For Progressive Change (CPC) from the 17 southern states of Nigeria, have said fielding President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 Presidential election will incur the wrath of Nigerians and cost the ruling APC the election.
The group which goes under the banner of Southern Mandate of Nigeria (SMN), said Nigerians will stone them at campaign grounds, if Buhari is presented as their presidential candidate.
National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Francis Ikonomwan, in a statement made available to journalists in Benin, Edo State, described the call by members of Buhari Support Group on President Mohammadu Buhari to contest the 2019 election, as political sycophancy.
He described members of the Buhari Support Group as a “bunch of people who do not mean well for our Party, APC, and Nigerians at large, but rather, they represent their selfish interest.”
Ikonomwan who noted that President Buhari has failed to deliver on his campaign promises and so Nigerians can no longer entrust him with the leadership of the country, urged him to ignore such calls, adding that it is not in the interest of the nation.
“We are saddened that these people are not sensitive to the plight of Nigerians. The fact remains that Nigerians are not happy with President Muhammadu Buhari and our party, the APC.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has not been able to deliver on his campaign promises. What has this administration to campaign with in every sector of the economy or is it the fight against corruption that has been swept under the carpet?
“Even the political leaders and the people who fought for his emergence as President today have been abandoned and are all lamenting today.
“There is a total disconnect between the people and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration. Poverty and Hunger is now the order of the day in Nigeria as we speak. It is getting obvious by the day that Nigerians can no longer trust President Muhammadu Buhari with the leadership of this country.
“If APC fields Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate in 2019, we are afraid that Nigerians may stone us at campaign grounds. We may just end up giving the opposition party the presidency in 2019 on a platter of gold.
“However, we wish to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore such call as it is not in the interest of Nigerians.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s priority now should be how to use the remaining part of his administration to deliver on our campaign promises and do the needful by not indicating interest to contest in 2019,” the statement said.