59 Pro-Buhari Groups Abandon APC, Switch Support to Atiku

Fifty-nine pro-President Muhammadu Buhari groups working for his re-election made a U-turn on Tuesday and endorsed his main rival, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the groups said they decided to back the PDP presidential candidate because Buhari administration has failed to deliver on its several promises in the last three and a half years.

The National Coordinator of the Grassroots Mobilisers for Buhari (GMB), Yusuf Ardo, who spoke on behalf of the groups, accused Buhari of failing to appoint youths in his government, saying the groups have over five million members who visited all areas of the country for Buhari in 2015.

According to him, “We toured the country and campaigned for the emergence of the current All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government. This forum coordinated all support groups for APC and championed grassroots mobilisations of Nigerians.

“Sequel to the foregoing, we are sad that the government we put in place has failed and continued to fail our people, and we cannot continue to reinforce failures. How can we have a federal cabinet without a single youth? A government that does not take the youths into account is a dying government. The future belongs to us-the young people.”

Ardo said today, the country is faced with legions of challenges, adding that the economy which was the fastest-growing in Africa before Buhari took over in 2015, has gone comatose under the present government that has shown unpreparedness and completely cluelessness.

He added: “Unemployment has risen to an alarming level, and instead of creating three million jobs per year as promised during 2015 campaigns, millions of jobs are being lost quarterly, with many companies folding up daily.”

Ardo said he believed that under Atiku, the economy would be revived unlike the “misfortune” of Buhari.

‘’We strongly believe that Atiku will ensure diversification of the economy through agriculture, adequate supply of power and massive industrialisation, thereby creating employment for our teaming youths.

‘’Our predicament and future of the youths in Nigeria is highly threatened, and that is why we have resolved one hundred percent to support Atiku in 2019 for our large interest in this country,” he further explained.