2019: "Why Igbo should vote for Buhari"

A political support group, the Buhari Youth Organization, BYO, weekend gave reasons why it is necessary for the electorate in the Igbo- speaking states to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election, arguing that it would be the quickest way for power to shift to the south in 2023.

At a well –attended meeting of the group in Awka, the Anambra State coordinator of BYC, Comrade Olisa Okanmelu said that voting for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would mean that power would stay in the north till 2027.

According to him, if power came back to the south in 2023, South East would definitely be the next port of call, recalling that for eight years (1999-2007), power resided in the South West, while it resided in the South –South for almost six years (2010 to 2015).


He said: “Naturally, it is incontestable that with APC, power will domicile with the South East come 2023. This challenges all Igbo to put hands on deck to ensure that Buhari retains his presidency so as to handover to an Igbo man in 2023. This will entrench the interest of the Igbo nation in Nigeria’s political agenda.”

He said that despite the ‘unfounded and unsubstantiated criticism, antagonisms and parochial attacks from the opposition’,  President Buhari would convincingly win the 2019 presidential election based on his track record.

He argued further: “One can safely say that Buhari’s regime is modestly better than the regimes before it since 1999. It is therefore an illusion for the opponents to believe that they can muster enough electoral muzzles in terms of number to oust the incumbent President Buhari.

“Of all the criticisms leveled against Buhari, no critic is courageous enough to say that he is corrupt.

“Muhammdu Buhari could be anything to his critics, but has proven to be a clean and incorruptible leader. A former military governor; one-time federal Commissioner of Petroleum Resources, General Officer Commanding 3rd Mechanized Division, Jos, military head of state, chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund etc; yet he is not connected to illicit wealth like his contemporaries, predecessors, and successors in Nigerian military and civil politics. This remains a perpetual plus for him and that diminishes his so called opponents.”

Okanmelu also said President Buhari had improved infrastructure in the South-East, unlike what he called the situation in 16-years of PDP presidency, during which roads and other infrastructure were neglected in Igbo states.

 “In less than four years of Buhari regime, Igbo states are being opened up to link other zones in Nigeria. Work is on-going in 2nd Niger Bridge, Enugu-Onitsha expressway is under rehabilitation. So also is Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, among others.

“Railway line is underway to link Igbo states to the North and other parts of the country. Putting all these into consideration, BYO, has decided that Buhari regime shall continue because he is a good leader, he is not deceitful; he is honest, transparent, exemplary and consistent,” the BYO coordinator said.