THE Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Oyo State has thrown its weight behind the candidature of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Saturday presidential election.
This disclosure was made at a press conference held at the state secretariat of the party in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Among the AD chieftains that were present on the occasion are the governorship candidate of the AD, Engineer Hakeem Alao; former member, House of Representatives, Tajudeen Adeniji and the acting state chairman of AD, Mr Adeola Adepoju.
In an address delivered by the party’s governorship candidate, he said the decision of the party to back President Buhari is as a result of its rating of the incumbent as a man of integrity with a high sense of discipline and desire to sanitise the polity.
He said AD as a party stood for genuine and progressive ideas that could birth a new Nigeria where there is economic prosperity and good governance.
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With the decision of the party’s presidential candidate, Eniola Ojajuni, to back out from the race, Alao said it became necessary for the party to push its weight behind a credible candidate that is in the race in the best interest of the nation.
He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari came into office about four years ago and he has been doing his best to put the country on the right track. He has been vilified, condemned and abused variously, especially by the opposition parties who consider his best not good enough for the country.”
Although he noted that President Buhari had failed to deliver the expected ‘change’ that he promised the country, Alao, however said: “Unfortunately and very sadly too, the most vociferous of all the critics have been the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the very party under whose watch the country was run aground.
“Restructuring, which has suddenly become the catch-phrase of Alhaji Abubakar and his PDP and which some Yorubas are falling over themselves for, was the original idea of the AD when it was formed in 1998.
“Paradoxically, it was this same PDP under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar that stood against it while in office.
“From the above, it is simply not difficult to see our leaning in the Saturday presidential election. The personal attributes of PMB as a Spartan personality with integrity raises him far above his PDP counterpart. I hereby direct our members and supporters across the state to cast their votes for the man (Buhari).”
Asked if the decision would not affect his fortune in the coming governorship election, he said: “I do not think that this can affect my fortune in the governorship poll; the people of Oyo State know who they want as the next governor and I stand the better chance.”
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