Former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has weighed in on the open letter former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote last week in which he advised President Muhammadu Buhari against seeking reelection in 2019.
Obasanjo had said Nigerians were disappointed with Buhari’s performance, and he should not test their patient by vying for reelection.
However, Oshiomhole said Obasanjo was not in a position to advise Buhari as he was not one of the latter’s advisers.
Oshiomhole, who spoke with the media on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said, “I’m not sure when I see the list of the (President’s) advisers, that President Obasanjo is one of the advisers.
“I also recall with respect that the day President Obasanjo was inaugurating in some of his advisers, he did say that anybody who is his adviser can advise him, he will make his own decisions. I think that principle still stands.”
Oshiomhole said he was at the Villa to pledge his support to the president ahead of 2019.
He also urged Nigerians to exercise patience with the Buhari administration, adding that what had been destroyed in 16 years could not be undone in two years.
He said, “Nigeria was below ground level and from what you guys report that I read, we have always had challenges but never in terms of this scale and magnitude.
“What President Buhari inherited is difficult to describe. I have said so before that when you meet such a situation, your first task is to halt the drift. When you halt the drift, then you stabilise before you begin to go. There is no miracle about it.
“I don’ t think that anybody who understands the challenge of nation building, of national economic management and so on will expect that in two years, you can fix in a sustainable manner all of the things that have been destroyed over 16 years before this party came into office.
“Yes, there are challenges; there are a couple of things we need to begin to do and re -enforce but there is no question that a lot has begun and a lot is being done.”
Oshiomhole lauded the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme, saying it was the beginning of poverty alleviation in the country.
He stated, “For me, there is a commitment. I can see a heart that cares for the poor.
“But that doesn’t mean caring for the poor will make the poverty disappear overnight but that is a starting point.
“If you don’t recognise that we have these people amongst us and they are in millions, then you are not even likely to reflect on how to deal with their problems.
“For me, in terms of values, I can see a lot.”