Buhari and his handlers ‘boosting Atiku’s chances’ in the election

Moses Jolayemi, coordinator of the Ekiti state chapter of Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), says President Muhammadu Buhari and his handlers are boosting the chances of Atiku Abubakar in next year’s election.

Jolayemi, who is a former editor-in-chief of Newswatch Newspaper, said this in reaction to the search of the aircraft which conveyed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from Dubai to Nigeria.

The PDP presidential candidate had said the search at the Abuja airport was an attempt to intimidate him.

In response to the former vice-president, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, said the search is “routine” and it applies to all international arrivals and only the president was exempted.

But Jolayemi dismissed Sirika’s explanation as shallow.

“The strange search carried out by plain clothes security agents on the presidential candidate of the PDP Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on Sunday is a clear indication that President Muhammadu Buhari is desperate, jittery and grossly ill-advised by his handlers,” he said.

“We in the Nigeria Intervention Movement in Ekiti state particularly, are not oblivious of the current mood of the nation which is totally against President Buhari and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but the fact is that we are still studying the presidential candidates from different political parties.

“At the appropriate time, we will advise our teeming members on the way to go. What I can say at the moment is that we eill not go against the will of the generality of the Nigerian people.

“As things stand, there is no where you go in Nigeria today that you can conveniently get more than two out of 10 Nigerians who are ready to queue behind Buhari. The general feeling is that this present government has failed beyond description.

“But 2019 is still a bit of a distance. As they say in politics, 24 hours is a long time. Who knows, miracle may still happen and the mood may change but for now Nigerians are fed up. They are unable to trace any tangible achievement to this president and it is difficult to measure the depth of their disappointment.

“Unfortunately for the president, he is not able to act it well enough by keeping a straight face, pretending that all is well. He is showing to the whole world that he is desperate by intimidating a candidate who by all means is the most formidable threat to his second term ambition.”

He advised Buhari to resist the urge to clamp down on the opposition.