By Nasir Kura
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, on Wednesday urged people of the south-eastern part of the country to support the 2019 second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari in order to secure their presidential ticket in 2023.
The SGF said this while felding questions from State House correspondents after a meeting between the President and the Deputy Senate President and South-east governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja
He said: “This obviously might not be most appropriate time. You remember there was a programme in the Southeast where Mr. President asked me to represent him and I threw the kite by telling the Southeastern state that their quickest and easiest means to presidency is to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term.
“Meaning that they can short circuit the period in terms of only having him there for another four years and whatever they do in 2019 will determine what will happen thereafter because politics is a game of numbers and it is like a cooperative society.
“Whatever you bring as an investment when dividends are going to be shared, you will get proportionate with your investment and your investment in politics is what you bring to the table and I urge the Southeast to look at this matter seriously that every time we have a presidency in Nigeria, it is negotiated in several ways. Either negotiated by votes or what you bring to the table and you must negotiate from the position of strength.
“You can’t negotiate from the point of weakness and I believe that that message resonated with the people and their response now is attributable to the fact that even before the flag-off of the campaigns, we have laid it bare on the table for Southeastern states to consider the prospect of working with us to ensure that at least by the time President Buhari finishes his second tenure, they can make a shot at the presidency depending on what they bring to the table.”
The SGF said the visit of the south-east leaders was remarkable and had corrected the impression that the federal government was not doing anything for the people of the zone.
He said the leaders were at the Presidential Villa essentially to thank the President over the major activities that have taken place in the zone in the last three and half years of the present administration.
“They appreciate the fact that the second Niger Bridge was a paper issue in the last five, six decades. They are convinced that the decision to complete the Niger Bridge is real, contract has been awarded by this government for N206 billion of investment and the road networks and other things we are doing in the Southeast, it is a mark of appreciation for the leadership that President Muhammadu Buhari is providing for this country
“The Southeast is an integral part of this country, it must be accorded its appropriate place in the scheme of things and we believe strongly that this particular government has extended its hands of friendship to the South Eastern states and by the efforts that have been put in place to ensure infrastructural development and integration.
“The visit is remarkable, often times, what we hear is that the government is not doing anything in the Southeast. We had the topmost leadership of the Southeast coming to say we thank you Mr. President for what you are doing everything in terms of investments that are coming to the Southeast substantially have come under the last three and half years of Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure. So it is a mark of appreciation.
“So I believe that correspondently, they are willing to cooperate with the government to ensure the development of their people and bringing prosperity, peace and tranquility in the area and every other thing that a good government must provide for its people, we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that every nook and cranny is touched by this particular administration,” he said.
