By ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto
Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has advised that if Nigerians want to have the best in governance, the issue of the zoning of the presidency should be reconsidered in favour of merit.
Tambuwal who added that the future of Nigerians is presently seriously at stake, advised that the 2023 election should be used to correct the misgovernance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He, therefore, submitted that, “the task of seeking the position of President and subsequently running the office is not predicated upon the zoning of the office and other isolated indices but upon the collective interest of all the people of the country whose existence and subsistence is at stake now”.
Tambuwal, the 7th Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is also seeking to become the president come 2023 warned that, “Nigeria is on the brink of collapse, thus requires the communal resolve of all to save it from sinking completely”.
Speaking when some persons under the auspices of Concerned Citizens of Nigeria, who purchased the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s N40 million forms for him to indicate his interest in running for the number one job in the country next year, visited him, Tambuwal decried the high rate of inflation and cost of living in Nigeria.
“As our situation is in Nigeria today and in times like this, when the situation is so dire and the country is in distress, members of that community or country must come together and put whatever differences they have aside to save the country.
“It calls for every concerted effort from every and all concerned citizen to put their hands together to rescue it from an imminent collapse,”
Tambuwal listed some of the country’s greatest challenges as the devaluation of the Naira, insecurity, corruption economic downturn, unemployment, inflation, stressing that these have crippled every aspect of the people’s lives.
To redress these challenges for the good of all, he said Nigerians must look inward for those that can rescue them from these challenges.
This, according to Tambuwal, informed his decision to stand for the position of President. He said his decision is not informed by an overbearing ambition, but by the need to rescue the country from its quagmire.
Having foreseen what later became the abysmal failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s misrule about two years after it came to power, he said that he and his allies left the party for the PDP.
“And, now, it behoves on us, as leaders, as responsible leaders of this country, to once again, come together to rescue Nigeria. It would be too bad for Nigeria if APC remains in charge of affairs after 2023.
He said that things are going from bad to worse in the country, insisting that the “situation that demanded us to rise to that challenge of working towards changing the defective APC government at the center has not changed. Things are rather getting worse by the day.”
Talking on why seeking the presidency must be a collective struggle, Tambuwal said, “No single individual can do it alone. No zone can do it alone. No state can do it alone. No tribe can do it alone. No members of a particular faith can do it alone.
“Nigeria is our common heritage. It is our country. All of us must be hands-on in saving our country”.
Tambuwal thanked the group that purchased the forms for him for having confidence in his capacity to deliver, saying, “You are right. I have friends from across the length and breadth of this country. You are right. I understand the federal structure of this country. I quite appreciate the complexity of the Nigerian state. I have the requisite experience, by the grace of God, to seek for the office of the President.
“As I said, I am still consulting. I will come back to you after my consultations very soon,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr. Akinboro (SAN) said they purchased the forms for Tambuwal in recognition of his sterling qualities and the need to rescue the country from its current bad situation.
According to Akinboro, Tambuwal is still very young, vibrant and accommodating to all irrespective of religion, region, creed or political cleavages.
