will run on the platform of the newly registered All Progressives
Congress (APC) if fielded.
Buhari commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
for deeming it fit to register the party praising it for its
impartiality.
The retired army general who contested and lost the last presidential
elections under the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) said the
task before the new party is to mobilise voters to push the Peoples
Democratic Party out of government in 2015.
The former head of state said this while receiving a delegation from
theDemocratic Emancipation Movement, who visited him in his office in
Kaduna.
Read the Nation Newspapers reportbelow:
On whether he will run in 2015, he said: "My decision will be tied to
the Constitution of the APC; if the party chooses me as its candidate,
Iwill contest; if they do not consider, I will not contest but I will
still support the party. My decision to run in 2015 will solely be the
party's decision."
Gen. Buhari recalled the journey leading to the merger, saying: "I
thought about this merger since 2007. This is because I found out that
none of the opposition parties can challenge the PDP successfully. But
if we come together with those that have representation at the
National Assembly and the Houses of the Assembly and go back to
sensitise our constituencies, even if the PDPwants to rig, they would
find it impossible to rig.
"I discovered that by been so divisive, we made ourselves very
vulnerable. So, the best way to survive and for this country to
stabilise, we had to come together and I believe along the line, we
made necessary sacrifices," he said.
He spoke glowingly about the INEC and its role during the
registrationof the APC. He said the commission guided the party in its
efforts at following the provisions of the 2010 Electoral Act.
Gen. Buhari praised INEC for registering the APC. He said: "To be
honest, we have to thank INEC, because when we thought we had applied
according to the 2010 Electoral Act, INEC drew our attentionto the
section that said there must be the headquarters at the federal
capital that is good enough to be called a headquarters of a national
party, then our Constitution, our manifesto, the harmonisation of the
three main parties.
"We thought that the initial nine signatories were enough to manage
the party in the interim between registration and convention, but INEC
advised us that we needed to get between 25 and 35 people to come out
from the six geo-political zones to sign."
"If the INEC wanted to be wicked, they could have kept mute and just
sent us a letter that our application was not complete; they could
have done that. But for them to send us an observation which was later
corrected, I believe they were very impartial and we thank them for
that," Gen. Buhari said.
In his view, the APC's emergence has lowered tension in the country.
"The tension has already come and gone. People now think that they
have a viable alternative. These feelings and belief is across the
country, not only in the North or in the Southwest. There is a good
feeling about the party in all the political zones of the country.
He spoke on the task before the APC saying the party is putting
enduring structures in place to avoid the "disgraceful things" that
happened during previous elections.
"Our next important step is the mobilisation of constituencies to make
sure that elections are conducted according to law.
"In 2003, 2007, 2011, a lot of disgraceful things happened during
those elections. We are trying now to put the structure of APC on the
ground from the ward to the national levels with the hope to give
Nigerians hope and to win power.
"Those that are going to be in charge of the party from now till the
convention are the people that are very committed to the party's
stabilisation and political strength. We have started working hard to
ensure that we avoid problems."
He attributed the registration of the APC and other political parties
to the efforts of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), the Lagos
lawyer and right activist.
"It was the late Chief Fawehinmi, who took the letter I wrote and went
to the Supreme Court to stop the ruling party from denying other
parties registration. We thank Gani Fawehinmi for his foresight to
challenge the matter at the Supreme Court," Gen. Buhari said.
Leader of the Democratic Emancipation Movement, Matamaki Tom Maiyashi,
said Nigerians were aware of several efforts aimed at sabortaging the
registration of the party.
He said: "The registration of APC marked a point in the political
history of our country that will mark the beginning of a watershed in
the political struggle of Nigeria.
"In fact, the PDP is very lucky that APC is registered, because the
registration of APC has doused a lot of tension in the country.
"People now have hope that there is an alternative. It was not an easy
thing, but we have an alternative. The monster that is called the PDP
will be driven out by 2015."
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