President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday said political aspirants will no longer be endorsed from Abuja.
He disclosed this he revalidated his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his constituency in Daura, Katsina state.
The President said it is an unsaid tradition in Nigeria for ”the powers at Aso Villa” to influence choice of political aspirants in party primary elections.
Speaking on the essence of registration and revalidation exercise, Buhari said his objective was to ensure that the party is returned to the people at the grassroots by starting from bottom-up.
“No more crowning from Abuja downward. Let the people know this and appreciate it that they are in charge of their constituencies and they are in charge of the party. Without any incentive, they must come out and defend the party at any level so that we, you, and the party will feel secure and comfortable because the old-time of putting hands in the pocket is over because the money is no longer available,” he said.
The president also accused the Nigerian elite of harassing his government.
His words: “The problem is that I will like especially the elites to please be reflective. When we came, where we were, the resources available from them and the condition of the infrastructure. I was contrived to go over it several times to tell Nigerians that between 1999 and 2014, let them check with the NNPC, let them check with the governor of Central Bank, production was 2.4 million barrels per day and the average cost was $100 per barrel. So for a year’s daily production, Nigeria would earn having 2.4×100 dollars every day. But look at the condition of infrastructure, you know this better than I do.”
