Former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, on Thursday said there will be trouble if the ruling All Progressive Congress rigs the 2019 general election.
He said Nigerians and the international community are anticipating an excellent election devoid of rigging.
Mr Aliyu stated this in Dutse, Jigawa State capital, shortly after he presented party flags to some Peoples Democratic Party candidates in the state.
He said Nigerians are now wiser because of the evolution of new media, ”hence, rigging will be a difficult task”.
He also called out President Muhammadu Buhari over recent allegations that his (Buhari) family owns shares in Keystone Bank and 9Mobile saying ”modern technology would reveal if this is true”.
He also said the PDP government performed better than the current APC government while in office.
“In every change of government, the newcomers will tell you that the previous administration didn’t perform well, the idea was to castigate, justify so as to legitimise,” he said. ”PDP for 16 years established the foundation for the development of this country.”
He said the APC administration has taken Nigeria back to the ”preliminary level of 1984-85s where things started deteriorating”.
“PDP is more familiar with the pattern, understand the democracy, constitution and the people of Nigeria. Nigerians now have an opportunity to compare and contrast between political parties that have served the people,” Mr Aliyu said.
In his remarks, at the event, a former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, said the APC would not have come into existence without the ‘help’ of the PDP.
”In 2014, APC was a bad woman who cannot (could not) conceive but with the help of PDP, they were able to form a government,” he said.
“If you look at the composition of APC in 2014, it’s only Bola Tinubu from the AC (Action Congress); Ali Modu Sheriff, Ibrahim Shekarau from the ANPP (All Nigeria Peoples Party); President Muhammadu Buhari, Buba Galadima from the CPC (Congress for Progressive Change). These people couldn’t ‘deliver’ Nigeria. They had to look for people from the PDP to come together to produce this government,” he said.
Dignitaries in the event included former governors of Kaduna and Niger states, Ahmed Makarfi, Ramalan Yero and a PDP chieftain, Aminu Wali; politicians, Aminu Ringim and Yarbaba Hadejia, among other dignitaries.
