APC chieftain lampoons ex-governor

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has asked the former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, to be ready to tell Nigerians what his party, the People Democratic Party (PDP) did in the last 16 years to warrant another shot at the presidency.

Okechukwu who is the spokesman of the South-east zone of the APC, described Lamido’s declaration for the 2019 presidential ambition as a welcome development, saying the former governor has to tell Nigerians what his party, PDP could not do while in office for 16 years that he is coming back to correct.

Lamido had declared monday that he would contest for presidency on the platform of the PDP in 2019.

However, while reacting to the Lamido’s declaration yesterday at the national Secretariat Abuja, Okechukwu said Lamido has a constitutional right to run for the office but he must save Nigerians all form of sentiments.

“Why not as long as the person saved us the agony of not telling us that the South has been marginalised or the north has been marginalised then we are on the same berth. It is now incumbent on him to tell us his programme what he want to do that PDP did not do in the last sixteen years or whether for him, PDP did so well, if he tells us the PDP did so well, then we have enough armour and arms to confront him with.

“The most important thing is that he has the constitutional right to run for the office and if he is running for the office, he helps the Nigeria situation. Number one, he will not deal with the issue of ethnicity and religion, he comes from the same ethnic background with President Muhammadu Buhari.

“So at lease he has killed the two fault-lines. But then we should now know what is coming with, we will like to hear from him further what are his agenda, but anybody that parties along that line, he has save the Nigerian people the headache of ethnicity and religion I welcome that as a person because that is why the issue of the convention of zoning whether written or unwritten means.”

The APC chieftain, however, said it is not too early for anyone to start planning for the 2019 general election.