News Release: Buhari Says Voters’ Cards Are Weapons Of Victory

Buhari

The presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari has enjoined all Nigerians above 18 years not to be discouraged by the hiccups that have attended the on-going voter's registration exercise but persevere to ensure that they are registered.

Speaking shortly after he registered in his Sarakin Yara Ward in Daura hometown on Saturday, Buhari compared the inconveniences Nigerians are going through with the labour a woman has to undergo before a childbirth. "My belief in the prospect of a new Nigeria remains strong and this explains why I'm still in the race after being cheated out twice. I see the moment of change around the corner and this is why I passionately  appeal to all Nigerians not to mind the difficulties of the moment; They must see the pain as the price to pay for the gain ahead".

The former Head of State added that those who have robbed our people their votes over the years would be highly fulfilled if Nigerians get frustrated in this process. "They would get all their Mike Tysons on the register again to continue the business as usual. We must not allow that to happen".

He also drew the attention of Nigerians to events in Tunisia where it took the self-contribution of an unemployed graduate whose cart was seized for the oppressed to rise up and take their victory. Nigerians, according to him, have a golden opportunity at the April polls to take their own victory electorally on a system that has ensured that election results never reflect their choices over the years "rigging starts from the voters' scroll and this is why obtaining your card becomes a weapon of victory and opportunity to vote for change".

  

Buhari blamed the problems associated with the voters registration exercise on system failure and leadership incompetence in the country."It is a shame that 50 years after independence we still lack the capacity to build data. There is no excuse for this. A country like India with a billion plus population holds census on a daily basis. You can see their population figures on Television every night. They are daily registering births and deaths. This will be one of the priorities of our administration, to give the country an efficient data system that we will never have to shut our schools again to register voters. Once people turn 18, they will just walk up to the data centre to get captured in the pool".

  

On the blame being shifted on youth corpers who are manning the DDC machines, Gen. Buhari said it shows the kind of decay in our education system that our graduates could not handle computers very well. "But is it their fault? Are we pretending that we do not have students studying Computer Science without computers. What is the level of education we have made available to them? If the ones who have graduated can't operate DDC machines. what will happen to the 98% failing in NECO and 75% bungling WAEC examinations? He promised that massive investment in education will be one of the cornerstones of his administration, which explains why the pen is symbol of his party”. “We are in a knowledge driven world and we must rebuild our educational system to be able to function properly in the new world" he said.

Gen. Buhari finally called on INEC to address all the complaints that have been made by voters and extend the time for the exercise.

'Yinka Odumakin

Media Adviser