Former governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari will be ‘conveniently re-elected’ if he seeks for a second term in office come 2019.
By 2019, he said, the Buhari administration would have further consolidated on its numerous giant strides so much so that comparisons would then be made to Nigerians as to the messy situation the country was in 2015 and the changes that were recorded afterwards.
In his first exclusive interview granted since leaving office, the former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president, said against the rhetoric of critics who no longer have access to stolen and cheap money, the truth remains that the country was gradually undergoing an unprecedented change that has put it in the path for greatness and real success.
“If the People’s Democratic Party were still at the center, I bet you it would have been case closed for Nigeria. Boko Haram got up to Benin and had a base in Kogi. Who wants to return to that path? Who wants to go back to the era when Nigeria Army were said to be running away from battle? Who wants to return to the era of abuse of subsidy?
“Again, in all fairness who wants to return to the era of crude oil theft? I had asked former President Jonathan as a member of the security committee with governors how crude oil were been stolen in tankers and the Nigerian Navy was not aware? Were the tankers flying? Why are we not hearing such stories again,” he queried.
“Who was in government when companies such as Michelin, Dunlop, and Nestlé etc started relocating to Ghana? Here in Nigeria, a government spent $16bn on power and at the end of spending the last dollar the country degeneration rated from from 4,000 megawatts to 2000 megawatts.
“Who wants to return to an era where in the name of privatization, the PDP government handed over sensitive national assets to brothers, friends and cronies who neither have the competence nor the wherewithal to invest in power distribution which has further compounded our problem today.
“So who wants to return to such time?  So honestly for me, the facts and choice is clear ahead and of course will be in 2019,” the former Edo governor stated.
While welcoming the President back to the country, Comrade Oshiomhole praised the President on the way and manner he handled his vacation, saying it was unprecedented.
“President Buhari is not the first to fall ill, he just happens to be the first in the history of Nigeria to acknowledge that he was ill and hence going on vacation and also to seek medical attention.
“And as required by law, unlike in the past, he duly wrote to the National Assembly and requested that his vice acted as stipulated.  What more did Nigerians expect, he queried.