Few days to the long awaited 2019 general elections; opinion polls suggest a resounding victory for the presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The Polls which were conducted by National Network reporters on the streets of Port-Harcourt on Monday saw an abysmal score on the incumbent President and candidate of the All Progressive Congress Party (APC) Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari.
Miss Anna Jacob, a student of University of Port-Harcourt, said that President Buhari is incapable and does not deserve reelection.
She said, “Buhari acts as if he is the only citizen in this country. He does things his own way without putting the people at heart. When he was elected as the President of this country he said he will turn the economy of Nigeria by making Naira equivalent to Dollar and this was not done.
“Later the economy became worse than before, the state of the country is worse compared to former President Jonathan’s tenure, prices of goods were cheap and affordable especially foodstuffs. An average Nigerian could feed his family and also pay children’s school fees. To me, Buhari connotes hardship, suffering, hunger and death. ,” she said.
She further added that a lot of students dropped out of school due to economi hardship and many were forced into hawking just to earn their livelihood.
Another respondent, Mr Peter Chike, said he preferred Atiku to Buhari and called on Nigerians to cast their votes for him.
“In the year 2003, the House of Reps made an attempt to impeach President Olusegun Obasanjo. As then Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was challenged by the development and moved to assert his image as a reliable antidote to Nigeria’s problem by putting into action a reconciliation strategy that brought all conflicting parties to reason. While most politicians in Atiku’s position would have taken advantage of the office of the President but Atiku chose to wait for his time,” he said.
Mr Peter Chike also said that Atiku has the ability to unify Nigerians; because of his ability to speak different Nigerian languages.
“Atiku has the ability of interpersonal communication. He knows how to communicate to the hearing of everybody and knowing the mind of each ethnic group due to his ability to speak various languages, you can see that during his campaign rallies,” he said.
He also added that the power of leadership is communication and Atiku has the attribute, and that is what the people of this country need in a President.
According to him, “Atiku’s attribute of communication will stop insurgence and we do not need somebody that is not audible enough to communicate to the citizens of Nigeria. This is the problem we need to tackle in the upcoming elections by making the right choice”.
A law student from Abia State University, Austin Adooh, described President Buhari as an incompetent, leader who can’t get the job done.
“Re-electing Buhari is the worst thing any Nigerian should consider because the current state of this country is nothing to write home about. The country is not appealing for any citizen especially the youth that are jobless”, he said adding that Buhari promised the people of Niger Delta to fix and link the East West road and that the road is yet to be completed.
