Tambuwal in Benin laments pathetic state of the nation

SOKOTO state Governor Aminu Tambuwal yesterday in Benin lamented the pathetic state of affairs in the country under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Tambuwal who was in Benin to woo Edo People’s Democratic Party (PDP) delegates ahead of the party’s presidential convention said the ship of the state was drifting aimlessly and that the country was more polarized than ever as a result of the bad policies of the ruling APC.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives was accompanied by Prince Kaseem Afegbua and former Edo state Commissioner of Information and spokesman to former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

Amidst applause, Afegbua, the spokesman of the factional Reformed All Progressives Congress who is scheduled to formally defect to the PDP today at his hometown of Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area of the state had introduced Tambuwal.

Tambuwal stated that the kind of president Nigeria needs is a leader who understands the complexity of the nation and will act as a unifier of all the different religions and also, the Northern and Southern parts of the country.

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He slammed Buhari, adding that it is very unbecoming of the president to denounce the judiciary as corrupt as such a careless statement was capable of scaring the much-needed investors away.

He said: “The ship of state is drifting. We are losing our unity as the country is highly polarized. We need a leader who understands the complexity of our country, a unifier. A leader that can take Nigeria out of the woods. No investor will come and invest in a country where the leadership say that the judiciary is corrupt.”

The ex-Speaker said that being a lawyer, he knows the working of the judiciary and having being a federal lawmaker he was abreast with the legislative arm of government while experience gathered in the last three years as governor will be handy if he becomes president.

He deplored the recent invasion of the National Assembly by hooded operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), noting that it was the second time it was happening.

Tambuwal stated: “I will not invade the National Assembly if I become president. It is not in the national interest of our country and polity. If there is a problem with the other arms of government, I will sit down and iron out the differences. I will swallow my pride and negotiate with the lawmakers when there are differences.”

The Edo state PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih described the presidential hopeful as a detribalized Nigerian who is determined to break the chain of recycled and expired leaders with nothing to offer.