![2019 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Buhari Victory, Emancipation Of The Masses]()
The Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA) has described President Buhari’s victory in 2019 Presidential Election as emancipation of the masses
Press Release
The president of Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA), Mr. Soliu Luqman, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in just concluded 2019 Presidential Election as emancipation of the masses
Nigeria as a nation returned to democratic government in 1999 after several years of military rule.
Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA) noted that there have been transitions between then and now although the will of the people have always been suppressed by the few elitist cabals who uses their ill-gotten wealth to blackmail, destabilize and disorganize anyone found to be the man of the people until 2015 when the masses prayer was answered.
Top on the list of these cabals were the privileged media columnists who specialize in destroying any sincere person with their devilish pen believing their readers would lick everything hook, line and sinker.
Typical of that was the false claim by Reuben Abati in one of his satanic write-up that Muhammadu Buhari once said blood would soak if he should lose 2011 election.
When he was sued to present evidence, he apologised and wrote a rejoinder to rebuke his earlier lies.
The other agents provocateur are the religious fanatics who believe in their brethren must always take it all to increase and or sustain what gets to their pocket illegally from public wealth.
Such people used propaganda in electronic and print media to discredit the unique integrity of Muhammadu Buhari but the masses who understand their game played down all their plots.
In fact, some even described President Muhammadu Buhari as a man with fake integrity but such have been challenged on many occasions to try and build just 10% of Buhari integrity which they had failed to achieve today.
So, it is glaring they are only covetous of his overwhelming and stupendous followership.
As the masses in unison spoke in 2015 to elect the father of new Nigeria: President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to expose the ills of our society especially how the wicked opportunistic elites have defrauded the nation for years without the masses having any knowledge of what was going in the corridor of power, they have renewed the voice of hope and rejection of wickedness and saboteurs.
President Buhari came and exposed the arm sleaze ditto to the usual budget padding as well as ghost workers in the nation public sector.
Until he won and was sworn-in, Nigeria had been borrowing to pay salaries while many states were unable to pay their staff salaries due to backlog of debts.
He came with his bail-out fund which made several states to be able to settle their salaries arrears.
As at the time he took over, the window-dressed giant of Africa best economy was in wobble which culminated into economic recession few months later although his economic team was able to overcome it at a fast pace than ever thought by any economic expert in the world.
Before, his ascension into the throne of Nigerian presidency, budget was only prepared and presented to National Assembly (NASS) as a routine annual festival without any significant project done to justify the amount earmarked and stated in the approved budget as civil servants and politicians would have shared the budget among themselves.
In fact, in many cases, 100% upfront payment was made to ghost contractors without any project executed but the money shared among the top government functionaries while the engaged contractors most often received the worst share.
This led to total collapse of the system whereby government officials would not do what they were being paid for until they extort their preys who need public service.
The lawlessness got to the peak that a president once said stealing was not corruption which further exposed the nation to global ridicule.
Despite fraudulent claim by former president Olusegun Obasanjo to have spent $16billion on power, power situation was just a nightmare.
Buhari came with two super Ministers- Raji fashola and Kemi Adeosun and the duo with others strategize to improve the nation power supply.
The hitherto fixed monthly charges of N750 for domestic customers and N18, 000 for commercial power users have been cancelled by Raji Fashola since February 2016 while arbitrary bill has become an offence.
This further demonstrated the government of Muhammadu Buhari as pro-masses which made the few rich people very angry with it as their usual means of extravagant lifestyle were blocked.
They started writing epistles to discredit their business spoiler but the masses rather became more glued to the ordained patriot.
Then they became jittery raising different false alarms including threat to their lives just to elicit sympathy.
There were some areas especially along Lagos-Ibadan expressway that had no power supply for almost a decade before Muhammadu Buhari came into power and today they are enjoying power supply like other parts of Nigeria connected to national grid.
In most of the Federal parastatals and agencies now, the bosses have no much influence again in trampling on the salaries of subordinates that offend them unlike the hitherto practice as the ministry of finance now directly pays most public servants already enrolled in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Biometric verification number (BVN) launched in February 2014 which has captured 36, 893, 346 residents and or citizens of Nigeria as at February 24,2019 got a boost in its compliance when the new sheriff came.
The project (BVN) has been able to use biometric information as a means of first identifying and verifying all individuals that have account(s) in any Nigerian bank and consequently, as a means of authenticating customer’s identity at point of transactions which thus block a single person from having multiple accounts with different names being used to defraud the state.
Treasury Single Account (TSA) has also been able to control usual spree in the public sector as unified accounts for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have restrained unauthorised access to public fund.
Recruitment, promotion and receipt of commensurate benefits are now done with ease especially at the Federal MDAs but there is need for government to engage professional auditors to help check the remaining abnormalities as some legislators pad MDAs budget and after budget approval go to such MDAs to collect the money without signing any document.
Civil servants in such MDAs should commit such dubious legislators to write something for the fraud to be traceable.
For the first time in the last 20 years, Nigeria witnessed a regime that would not experience pensioners’ protest leading to death of aged people on their way to authorities to claim their entitlements or sale of national assets to cronies.
The country has been able to be recognised by United Nation (UN) as being led by the best global president of the decade.
The gory experience of thousands of Nigerians made to suffer under bogus employment opportunities became a history as different agencies such as police, road safety, immigration, etc have employed staff without record of any stampede.
Npower-volunteers were engaged with ease and they collect their stipends without having to settle anyone to even get employment unlike in the past where people were made to part with money or other things such as sexual gratification.
The FADAMA youths beneficiaries did their enrolment, selection and training with ease. While some have collected their grants which ran into million of Naira others are waiting to receive theirs.
The Presidential Youths empowerment Scheme (P-YES) is another initiative among others currently being implemented by Buhari-led government to save the nation from quagmire of unemployment.
Many bigwigs have been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced for various fraudulent cases which marked the first genuine effort to check the large scale pen-robbery by the elites.
However, the “saraki-dogaratization” (which is a concept implying dubious characters finding various means to defraud the nation without making it public and that whoever tries to expose them is either suspended or victimised) of national assembly has the worst toll on the nation progress.
Budgets were either delayed for possible way to pad it or it is padded directly.
Unfortunately, we have a lawyer-speaker who was supposed to know the law better but was justifying criminality that budget padding was not an offence as if he did not read Economic and Financial Crime Commission Act which made it criminal for any public official to present false document for public use.
The saraki-dogaratized Nationally assembly surreptitiously worked against the nation when it passed an amended electoral Act that removed counting ballots and replaced it with transmission of election result to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) database directly especially through compromised INEC staff.
The same assembly has failed to pass law that will criminalize corruption and setup special court for trial of accused corrupt public officials.
How could result be transmitted if not counted except some perfidious elements were working against free and fair election in the country?
President Buhari however caused the mess for not assisting in electing patriots as leaders of the National Assembly.
Now that he has secured second-term ticket from the masses who felt his giant economic stride that stabilized the nation economy, there is need to ensure only patriots emerge as the leaders of the two chambers of National Assembly this year.
The tragic era of Saraki and Dogara leadership must not be allowed to repeat itself in the next National Assembly.
Roads, rail, power project, airport, bridges, etc have been completed by Buhari administration while some are work-in-progress, salaries and pension arrears have been settled even the ones owed by those that sold our national assets at very low prices to their cronies which sent millions of Nigerians to unemployment market while others have died in the search for greener pasture.
As masses have, in unison, ignored the blackmailing of President Muhammadu Buhari by his adversaries who thrive in evils and saw him as killing their illicit businesses, the President should consolidate his current attainment by probing further those who have defrauded the nation, implement policies that would further restore the middle class and make it difficult for those at corridors of power to abuse government positions for self-aggrandisement.
The executive should propose a law that will make our legislators not earning above a permanent secretary while a corresponding allowance equal same amount should be for their aides.
By then, only the activists and patriots will be vying for political posts.
The current practice where the national assembly just toy with our national wealth should cease.
On this note, RIFA appreciate the security agencies, INEC officials, local and international observers, the electorates who trooped out to express their wish and the internal communities for their support towards a hitch-free presidential election in Nigeria.
RIFA urge all to extend same support and commitment to the remaining election and continue to pray for Nigeria to have patriots as its leaders. With Buhari, God has broadened our hope in His support for Nigerian liberation from the oppressors as the masses can now feel a sigh of relief.
On the last note, we urge other contestants to accept the result and join hands with the President to move Nigeria forward.
Luqman Soliu,
President,
Rights and Freedom Advocates (RIFA)
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