R-L; APC Presidential Candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari,
Publisher Thisday Newspaper, Nduka Obaigbena annd Publisher of Vanguard
Newspaper, Chief Sam Amuka during a meeting with Nigerian Publishers at
the Sheraton hotels and Towers in Abuja. PHOTO; SUNDAY AGHAEZE
Despite his recent assertions that he is a reformed democrat ready to
comply with the tenets of the Nigerian Constitution, the presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Major-General Muhammadu
Buhari, on Tuesday failed to apologise for his government’s promulgation
of the draconian Decree 4, which empowered him to gag the press and
jail two journalists – Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson – who worked for
The Guardian Newspaper when he was military head of state 31 years ago.
Buhari, who during an interactive session yesterday in Abuja with
proprietors of newspapers who met him under the auspices of the Nigerian
Press Organisation (NSO), missed the golden opportunity for a mea culpa
when he was pointedly asked by the Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY,
Nduka Obaigbena, if he was prepared to offer an apology to the
journalists jailed by his military junta in 1984.
Instead of responding to the question, it was the Governor of Rivers
State, Chibuike Amaechi, who interjected, quoting Buhari’s earlier
declaration: “I cannot change the past, but I can change the present and
the future.”
Even after Amaechi’s attempt to provide an escape route for the former
military head of state, Buhari throughout his session with the media
executives failed to express regrets for his actions more than three
decades years ago.
The best the Nigerian press got from the retired general was an
undertaking that his administration, if elected president in the coming
elections, will respect media rights and uphold the supremacy of the
constitution of the country.
Buhari said he would ensure that the Nigerian constitution is upheld,
including respect for the media, respect for the right to free
expression and freedom of speech.
“I am not only subjecting myself to the rigours of democratic elections
for the fourth time, but even after being elected, I will continue to
promote the consolidation of democracy in our great country, Nigeria, by
guaranteeing that the media’s freedom is not compromised in any way.
“I give you my full assurances that the Nigerian media will be free under our APC government,” he said.
Buhari, who told observed that the country was on the verge of
something new, said the tide had turned and the world could sense the
wave of change about to flood the country.
“In less than two weeks, the Nigerian electorate will head to the polls
to make their voices heard. Through the ballot, without a single shot
fired, a change revolution will likely take place,” he said.
On whether he would form a national government if he won the poll, he
said the issue was not something that could be decided by him alone as a
presidential candidate.
On his agenda, he said: “I am a systems man. We have got a committee
that sat for several weeks to draw the manifesto of our party. And this
manifesto has been widely distributed. Whatever I am going to do, I
don't think it will change. We will go by our manifesto.”
He explained that during his campaign tour of 35 states in the country,
he had played up three fundamental issues – insecurity, the economy and
corruption – as priority areas.
He also said that education and infrastructure, followed by power
supply, would be among the first issues to be addressed by his
administration.
On corruption, the presidential candidate expressed concern that there
were some people who ought to have been punished but who had been let
off the hook by the federal government.
Moving on to the electricity situation, he said: “Now if there is
power, the vulcanisers, welders, tailors and more importantly the
industries would be able to break even instead of closing down. But they
cannot break even by having generators and then buying fuel to maintain
them.
“It is even impossible because the way the naira is falling, they can’t
even save enough money to buy spare parts and raw materials and so on.”
Responding to charges of avoiding the presidential debate, he argued
that there was no reason for the debate since the record of President
Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in the
public domain.
“To be fair to me and Mr. President, after 16 years of PDP, and six
years of him (Jonathan) being in charge, is there anything to debate
about? Very seriously, you know the condition we are in no matter who
you are. So what should I debate there?” he asked.
Buhari also strongly condemned the postponement of the elections,
saying the reason adduced by government exposed the inefficiency of the
Jonathan administration.
“There were 14 local governments that were in the hands of Boko Haram –
10 in Borno State, two in Yobe, and two in Adamawa. So if some
commonsense is to be used to adduce our position on security, if the
Nigerian military could not secure Nigerian 14 councils out of 774 local
governments in six years, how can they do it in six weeks? We are
watching.
“There are about 10 more days to go in the six weeks. Let's see whether
in spite of the help of our generous neighbours – Niger, Chad and
Cameroon – whether the remaining local governments can be secured,” he
said.
Buhari’s interaction with the media owners came just as the United
Nations Under Secretary, Mr. Jeffery Feltham, said during a meeting with
the former head of state that the federal government has assured the UN
of its determination to hold free, fair and transparent elections on
the scheduled dates of March 28 and April 11.
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