‘Buhari remains most credible option among presidential candidates’

The New Initiative For Credible Leadership (NICreL), on Thursday, adjudged President Muhammadu Buhari as the most credible option among other candidates contesting for the presidential seat in the 2019 general elections.
The Executive Director of NICreL, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Rev. Samson Onwu, said this in Abuja.
Onwu, who observed that Buhari had lived up to expectations of Nigerians since assuming office in 2015, said the group arrived at the conclusion after a critical analysis of other presidential candidates.
He highlighted some of the achievements of the president to include increase in foreign reserve, completion of abandoned projects as well as improved security architecture of the country.
While also noting that Buhari, who is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was also rated ahead of other contenders because of his selflessness, the executive director said other presidential candidates were only in the race for personal interests.
”Having appraised all the candidates and carefully analysed their different abilities vis a vis their various stints at public office, we have reached the conclusion that none of them is a better option than President Muhammadu Buhari, judging by antecedents, performance and character.
”To appreciate this view, it is important that we take a look at where we were as a nation in 2015 and where we are now.
”The insecurity in the country was so pronounced that it was basically the major issue in the presidential campaign of that year.
”Fourteen local governments, about the size of Belgium, were already under Boko Haram control with flags hoisted as their territory in the North- East,then.
”Boko Haram attacks were common occurrences, even in the Federal Capital Territory FCT.
”The foreign reserves dwindled tremendously from a whopping $48b in 2007 to as low as $29b dollars in 2015, despite the fact that oil was sold at unprecedented high prices, sometimes even as high as $147 per barrel.
”Yet, there were no savings but a depletion of the existing saving. That was the kind of economy and government that was handed over to the Buhari administration,” he explained.
He said in the past, abandoned projects littered everywhere but with the coming of the current government, abandoned projects were being completed.
Onwu said while past governments derived pleasure from looting the treasury, Buhari out of his patriotic zeal introduced measures to block all the loopholes.
”This was one of the major actions that got us out of a recession,” he said.
He, therefore, called on the electorate to vote massively for the Buhari candidacy in 2019.