Olu Falae castigates Buhari for seeking re-election saying he should have stepped down after first term

FORMER finance minister and secretary to the federal government Chief Olu Falae has castigated the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari of not performing well expressing surprise that the president is seeking a second term given this.

Speaking yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital where he had gone to visit former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Falae said he was not expecting President Buhari to seek re-election in 2019. He said the current administration had failed in its primary responsibility of protecting lives and property, arguing that Nigerians were being slaughtered daily and the government could not stop the ugly trend.

Although he described President Buhari as his friend, Chief Falae faulted him on his reluctance to embrace restructuring having promised to do so during his campaign at the Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan, Oyo State capital  in 2015. Chief Falae, who himself ran for president in 1999, advised President Buhari to do a critical analysis of his administration and retrace his step from seeking re-election in 2019.

Chief Falae said: “You know and I know that the present government has not done well. The primary responsibility of government is to protect the lives of its citizens and this government is not doing so.

"People continued to be killed and slaughtered every night and any government that cannot stop that has failed. President Buhari is my friend and once upon a time, you will recall that I raised his hand at the Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan, asking people to vote for him because he said he would restructure Nigeria, so, it is not a personal matter."
 

Currently the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Falae spoke about a possible alliance with the Chief Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement. He said every right-thinking Nigerians would support such collaboration in order to achieve a progressive change in the country.

He added: “The truth of the matter is that Buhari has not done well and I was hoping that he himself would look at the situation as a very honest and right-thinking person and do himself and us a favour by saying that in the light of what had happened and giving the state of affairs, he was not going to contest. That’s what I thought he would do but he didn’t do so.

“I am sure that most, if not all  right thinking Nigerians, would see the need for all of us to work together to ensure that there is a good, beneficial, peaceful and progressive change in Nigeria. We want a change from massive unemployment which we have now, a change from the continuous harassment and killings by Fulani herdsmen and a change from the fear and threat of Boko Haram."

According to Chief Falae, Nigerians want a change from a situation where farmers are afraid to go to their farms and a change from the riots that are all over the place because of frustration and loss of hope. He added that they also want a change from the present situation of depression and a failure to revive the economy of Nigeria.