Be firm on Nigeria’s unity don’t be distracted — Natbo tells Buhari

A political pressure group, No Alternative To Buhari-Osinbajo 2019 (NATBO 2019), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to be firm on his actions to keep the country united even in the face of daunting security challenges.

NATBO made the call in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Mr Vincent Uba, on Saturday noting that no president who swore to protect the sovereignty of his country would allow his country to disintegrate.

Uba said that the president must not be distracted from the good work of fighting to protect the lives and property of the citizens, relentless war against corruption and building a strong and enduring economy.

He noted that the group, having objectively and critically analysed Buhari’s administration, had no option than to pass a vote of confidence in it after rating it highly in terms of governance performance.

“Our conclusion is based on what the administration met on the ground in 2015, together with the major global crisis of oil glut in 2016 and the current COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

The NATBO coordinator urged those aiming to distract the president through clamour for restructuring, constitutional amendment or referendum to channel their cases to the National and State Assemblies who were elected to represent the people.

Uba noted that the legislature was the right organ of government to look into the appropriateness or otherwise of such agitations as the president would be the last person to fall for clamour for the session or self-determination.

“The president of the country has no hands in this and so should not be dragged into considering these agitations.

“Nigeria has witnessed, as never before, all manner of agitations and clamour for self-determination or secession.

“The administration has witnessed negative criticisms, most of which are based on half-truths, selfish political motives and propaganda in the crudest form.

“Judgment of President Buhari’s performance has not been based on comparative cost analysis, but rather has been on deceptive and warped grounds.

“A fair and just judgment of Buhari’s performance should have taken into cognisance what he met on the ground at inception in 2015 and the global oil glut of 2016 as well as the current COVID-19 pandemic.