Why Saraki cannot be Nigeria’s president – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that the Senate
President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is unfit to lead Nigeria.

Yekini Nabena, APC National Publicity Secretary, said this in a
statement on Wednesday.

He noted that while every Nigerian has the right to run for any
office, there are many issues that border on such person's integrity,
antecedents, competence and capability to preside over the affairs of
the country.

Nabena stated that APC was aware that Saraki's presidential
declaration was a tactic to deflect attention from the deluge of
issues he deals with, particularly ahead of the 2019 General
Elections.

He said pressure to reconvene the National Assembly, a fast-shifting
political order in Kwara State, among others were a few examples.

Nabena wrote: "By virtue of Saraki's antecedents, he is an abysmal
failure and is totally incompetent to offer himself as a candidate for
leadership of Nigeria. Saraki was a two-term Governor of Kwara State
and Senate President in the last three years. What were his
performance records in these two assignments?

"As Kwara State Governor, was his Shonga Agricultural Programme, not a
white elephant project in which hundreds of millions of State funds
was sunk into? The infrastructure, particularly roads network in Kwara
State in which the present administration remains under his tight grip
and political machinations long after leaving office, remains
deplorable while state resources are mismanaged through corrupt
enrichment.

"A Presidential aspirant who promises to create jobs and turn around
the economy at the national level must have done so in a state he
served as Governor for eight years. We challenge Saraki to give the
nation his scorecard as a Kwara State.

"As Senate President, how Saraki used the position to superintend over
budget padding, sabotage of the executive by frustrating confirmation
of presidential nominees, stalling legislative approvals for election
budgets and his recent shadow boxing on the Electoral Act, among other
treacherous actions against the APC (which he was then a member) in
pursuit of his selfish political interests has been well reported.

"Was Saraki's Senate Presidency not a journey of shame and disgrace? –
moving from one Court or Tribunal to another over charges of forgery
of Senate Rules, false declaration of assets, and being linked with
armed robbers who brutally killed and maimed innocent residents in
Offa recently.

"Saraki says he is heeding the call of Nigerian youths to contest the
Presidency. We are not aware of any meeting of Nigerian youths held
during which they decided that. For the record, the #NotTooYoungToRun
group berated Saraki for selfishly using their forum to make his
presidential declaration. We are not surprised by Saraki's selfish
actions as it has come to define his politics and persona.

"Saraki says he will offer leadership driven by empathy. Coming from
an incredibly selfish and self-opinionated politician this is indeed
an irony. Saraki's Presidential aspiration is a huge joke and should
not be taken seriously.

"He has repeatedly displayed his character as extremely selfish,
deceitful, untrustworthy and unreliable. His only goal is to get to
the top, stay at the top, ruin or wreck whatever he finds there or in
the event of failure, collapse the system or process.

"Nigerians have had enough of Dr. Bukola Saraki's retrogressive and
disruptive style of politics and deserve no more."