Saraki: My Presidency ’ll Bridge the North and South

Links insecurity to lack of accountability

Fidelis David in Akure and Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Former Senate President and presidential aspirant under the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) , Bukola Saraki, has said his presidency will be a bridge between the  Northern and the Southern region of the Nigeria.

Saraki, who stated this on Sunday evening at the party’s state secretariat in Akure the Ondo state capital ahead of its primaries, said he was the right person to become the next president of Nigeria and called on the PDP to give him the ticket of the party.

The Northern Elders Forum, had  led by Prof Ango Abdullahi, selected Dr Bukola Saraki and  Governor of Bauchi State, Bala  Mohammed as the northern consensus candidates of PDP for next year’s presidential election, while the National Executive Committee of the PDP reportedly prepares to meet on Wednesday in Abuja to take a decision on the zoning of the presidency.

Reacting to the selection, Saraki said it was a right move.

He said: “The beauty is that the northern elders have spoken and I think we should go with that face issues that are before us, which is, ensuring that our party win the 2023 general elections and I particularly, to see that I win the party’s primaries and become the flagbearer of the party and lead the country and  this is because I believe that I have a lot to offer and fix up this country”.

The former governor who berated present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari said: “We can only get out of this mess, if we have leadership that is visionary, understands the issue and is courageous.”

Saraki added that not just the aspirants, but all members must ensure that all hands were on deck to guarantee the party’s victory in next year’s elections.

“The country we are today requires collective responsibility, no single man can make it work and the more we sit down and engage ourselves, the better,” he said.

He also appealed to stakeholders to be just, fair and unbiased in the emergence of candidates of the party.

“In my political career, I’ve shown and make sacrifices. Nigeria needs leadership that will provide employment and unite the country. Under my presidency, everybody will have access to free healthcare. When i was governor in Kwara state, I brought innovations.

“When I was the Senate President, we decided and singlehandedly passed a law that makes it compulsory for the provision for universal healthcare. No country can develop when its citizens still use disposable income to pay for health services.

“The country has never been this disunited. We want a Nigeria president that will be for all of us,” Saraki added.

Meanwhile,  Saraki has lamented that insecurity has continued to persist in Nigeria because of a lack of accountability and the will to move against the perpetrators.

He added it has become a norm that perpetrators of crimes are not prosecuted, noting that people have gotten away with terrible crimes.

 “I was Senate President for four years, we sat down with the security agencies and drew a road map to addressing the issue of insecurity but today that report is still there. Maybe God want one of us from the North Central to implement it. I want to assure Nigerians that, with their support, I will end insecurity if I am elected President in 2023; people will be held accountable for their actions, and I will not tolerate injustice.

“For somebody who has been a victim of injustice for four years, I know what injustice is all about. With me as your President, it will be an end to injustice,” he said.

Addressing national delegates of the PDP in Plateau state, Saraki said the time has come for the North Central to produce the next president of Nigeria, adding that it is only a President from this geo-political zone that will unite the country.

He added that the North Central has been robbed in diverse ways in the past by other parts of the country without complementary reward for the role the middle belt had played in the past to stabilize the country.

He said: “When it is time to get something, they will call us, but once it is done they forget us. We need to unite this country; this country has been so divided. We need a man that has the capacity, not a man that will say I am not aware or somebody that does not know what is happening.”

He added that the economy of Nigeria has continued to nose-dive under the All Progressive Congress (APC) led administration, noting that the only way to ameliorate the situation is to vote for somebody who understands the economy.

Saraki said that the government alone cannot develop Nigeria because the country is broke and now surviving on borrowing, adding that Nigeria needs a dynamic and well-informed president.

“I am one of you, if you can give me the mandate, I am ready to replicate what I have done in the past because in all the places I have worked, I have never failed.”

In his remark, the PDP Chairman of Plateau State, Hon Chris Hassan assured the Saraki of their support and wished him well in his aspiration to be president of Nigeria.