The Alake of Egbaland, Adedotun Gbadebo, says President Muhammadu Buhari deserves to be re-elected to enable him consolidate on the policies and programmes he has initiated to transform the country.
Mr Gbadebo stated this when a former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, led members of the National Movement for the Re-election of President Buhari, on a courtesy visit to his palace in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The monarch spoke a day after former President Olusegun Obasanjo asked Nigerians not to vote for Mr Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Obasanjo, an indigene of Abeokuta, said it would be foolhardy for Nigerians to reinforce failure by re-electing the president and the party.
He criticised the APC-led federal government for allegedly bringing hardship on Nigerians and running an ineffective economic policy which, he said, cripples businesses, causing economic woes in the country.
Bur Mr Gbadebo, who described the president as a focused and sincere leader, said he had charted a worthy path for the nation to transform it to an enviable height.
He said Nigeria could not afford to allow the policies initiated by the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to be discarded should another leader be elected.
“I am part of the campaign team soliciting that Buhari should be given another chance to lead for another four years to complete the great work he has started.
“Those who drafted the constitution to allow for a second term have envisaged that while a leader takes time to formulate policies and put programmes in place, he needs more time for them to germinate before they begin to translate such to benefits for the people.
“Unfortunately, policy somersault has become a prominent feature in the history of governance in the nation.
“When a leader goes after four years, virtually everything he has done will be turned over by whoever comes after and we can no longer afford this wastage,” he said.
The monarch described Mr. Kalu as a detribalised person, who in spite of being an indigene of the South East Zone, had continued to campaign for Buhari .
Earlier in his address, the former governor commended the monarch for the peace initiatives in the state.
Mr. Kalu, who noted that a prominent feature of the peace initiative was the freedom to support any candidate in an election, declared that members of the group have been travelling across the country to solicit support for the president ahead of the 2019 polls.
“We are for oneness of this country. We are for leaders who are sincere to lead us well and who are equally committed to the rules and tenets of democracy.
“The greatest challenge of our country is leaders not obeying the law.
“When they are leaders, they did not obey the law and when they go out of leadership, they criticise everybody who wants to obey the law.
“President Buhari has continued to adhere to the tenets of democracy and abide by the constitutional provisions of the country in tackling the challenges of the nation,” he said.
(NAN)
