Beleaguered former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki(rtd), has resolved to contest the 2019 presidential election, an associate, a serving governor, has disclosed.
The governor, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), told The AUTHORITY at the weekend that Dasuki has secured the support of prominent leaders in the North to contest the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
According to the governor, the decision to support Dasuki was pegged on the calculation that, owing to old age, President Buhari may not seek a second term in 2019 when he would have clocked 76. Besides, said the governor, “there is an urgent need to save the North from the embarrassing outing of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
On if it wasn’t too early to talk of contesting an election that is over three years away, the governor countered, arguing that “the problem with leadership in Nigeria is that most so-called leaders don’t plan ahead.” He stressed, “This is the same mistake the people misleading PMB are making.
They think they have all the time in the world. There is nothing bad in starting early. We don’t want eleventh-hour candidates.”
On if Dasuki had the financial resources to finance a presidential campaign, the governor retorted, “how much money did Buhari have?”
He explained, “Apart from his blue blood and sound career in the military, Dasuki enjoys the support of former Presidents Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.
Besides, he is very charismatic, suave and eloquent.”
The governor predicted that APC was set to experience an implosion worse than the PDP’s, blaming what he described as Buhari’s poor outing “so far”
on the “antics of a few, selfish APC leaders.”
He blamed the current travails of the former NSA on those “leaders”, saying the witch-hunt has only succeeded in making the 61-year-old Dasuki more popular.
Said the governor: “All over the world, political prisoners have emerged victors; from Nelson Mandela, Suu Kyi, Aquino in The Philippines, and even Obasanjo in Nigeria. We strongly believe Dasuki will emerge from this political persecution to become president, Insha Allah.”
The governor claimed that marabouts had hinted key officials in The Presidency that they saw Dasuki “sitting on a very powerful chair”, and that the prediction may be responsible for concerted efforts to silence the former NSA
He said: “They said Dasuki was among the Majors who arrested President Buhari in the August 1985 coup. They also blame him for supporting former President Jonathan, and even spearheading the postponement of the 2015 elections to favour Jonathan.”
“Some of us in APC are so pissed off with the way the young man is being victimised. As we speak, there are two dozen armed-to-the-teeth DSS personnel stationed at his gate. They have planted all manner of bugging devices in the man’s house. Not even during the dark days of Abacha did we experience such political intimidation,” lamented the governor.
He continued: “First, they accused Dasuki of treason. Later they said it was money laundering. He has challenged them to prove it in open court.
Why are they afraid to go and prove their case in court? Instead, they have resorted to using the EFCC to harass civil servants in the NSA’s office. This is most ludicrous.”
The governor predicted that the ongoing probe of the former NSA would further embarrass the government, saying there was nowhere in the world where security spending can be subjected to a probe.
He remarked, “Seeking to probe military spending from 2007 is self-serving. Did Nigeria come into being in 2007? Even at that, we all know military chiefs who ran their services like personal estates. The same persons now hold top positions in the same government that is shouting itself hoarse on fighting corruption.
“As we speak, EFCC operatives are scouring files in the office of the NSA, looking for just anything to indict Dasuki. We are tired of these antics.
This isn’t the change Nigerians yearned for. We should leave Dasuki alone and face the economic hardship threatening the lives of millions of Nigerians,” he declared.