President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, June 1, 2018, expressed fears whether the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, can actually muster the financial strength to tackle the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of the 2019 general elections.
He alleged that so much resources were still within the coffers of the opposition camp that they have been channeling to malign his person within the media space.
Buhari made these remarks while playing host to members of the Buhari Media Organisation, BMO, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He expressed sympathy for media practitioners who have been defending his administration and policies, describing their task as a herculean and hectic in the midst of opposition.
The BMO metamorphosed from the Buhari Media Support Organisation which played active roles in the APC campaign team in 2015.
The President said, “I don’t think I can thank you enough for your steadfastness under very difficult circumstances. It is not easy to defend this administration and more in particular to defend me. But your consistency has given me a lot of confidence.
“And I know you are doing it as a sacrifice both physical, mental and material. Because as I keep on saying the opposition now are sitting on incredible resources which I am afraid we might not be able to match at all.
“For that reason the opposition is sponsoring mischief from different angles which in spite of the incumbency of government we cannot absolutely stop.
“It is you that are fighting it and I cannot thank you enough for that. Most of the people I jailed have gotten back all what they have taken before I was jailed. Most of those people that were being judged by various tribunals have gotten back what they had taken.
“I spent 18 months in detention and luckily they did not find anything against me and I was released. But my problem was that there was a journalist from Edo State he wrote an article against me.
“He wrote that my mother had to die to save me. Because I was only released when my mother died so that I can go and bury her, of course you know as a Muslim tradition demands that you are buried where you die.
“So I can remember what most of you here sitting here did, the sacrifices you have made in terms of materialism even losing friends to continue to support me, I have been here for three years.
“You have proven to people that you are not here for material things, your opinion is out of sacrifice and the strength of the moral courage you have is the strength of the physical, it is the strength of losing the friends you have.
“I am sure you are being asked, this support you are busy giving Buhari what the hell do you get out of it. And that is why I commend your steadfastness and I am very grateful for it.
“In this country whether people like it or not, they will remain grateful for your courage because you have the courage to do the research, take your time to reply mischievous representation and we are very grateful”.
Chairman of the Buhari Media Support Organisation, Austin Braimoh, said the main objective of the organisation was to promote and defend the programmes of the Buhari led administration.
Braimoh, who said the group has been making credible interventions in the media to further project President Buhari, noted that a second term of office for President Buhari was not out of place.
No comments:
Post a Comment