APC kicks as Gov. Aliyu alleges Buhari signed one term pact

The Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, on Tuesday said the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, signed a one-term pact with the leadership of the party before he was given the ticket.
Aliyu, who spoke during an interactive session between the media and governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos, also faulted some governors elected on the platform of the party who left to form the APC.
He said the reason for speaking out against the injustice within the PDP by some of them at a time was for a solution to found and not for the formation of another party.
He said what some of his colleagues did was to use the opportunity to achieve their selfish aim, which had been to leave the party and form another one.
The interaction, which was held on the platform of the PDP Governors Forum, also included civil society organisations.
Aliyu said the one term pact signed by Buhari will shortchange the North in the political calculations in the country.
He said the North was prepared to wait until 2019 when President Goodluck Jonathan would have concluded his maximum two terms in office before taking a shot at the presidency.
But reacting to the allegation, the APC debunked what it called the myth being peddled by the PDP that Buhari will spend only one term in office if elected president.
It said it is the creation of the PDP, which is seeking to play a section of the country against another.
“The APC will not abridge the right of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to spend the constitutionally-guaranteed two terms as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria if elected in the March 28th poll,” the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The statement said further: “No conditionality whatsoever was attached to Gen. Buhari’s candidacy. He won the party primaries fair and square in a globally-acclaimed transparent manner, and he was neither a compromise nor a consensus candidate, hence there is no need for him to make a deal with anyone.
“We are therefore telling Nigerians to disregard the tales by the moonlight which some PDP elements are yarning, in their desperation to muddle the waters ahead of the forthcoming elections and create disaffection between a section of the country and another.”
The APC said it had ignored the myth all long because it was being peddled by fringe elements in the PDP, but decided to put the record straight once and for all after those who were thought to be saner elements in the ruling party started parroting the same incredulous lies.
It said: “This myth that Buhari will spend one term, after which power will return to the South-west, is along the same line as the outlandish claim that our Vice Presidential Candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has sworn to an oath to resign in favour of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu once elected.
“The question to ask is: When will the PDP stop this campaign of calumny and character assassination against our candidates and leaders? When will they stop this one-day, one-lie nonsense?
“The truth is that Gen. Buhari’s candidacy has brought out the worst in the PDP leadership and supporters, including Mr. President and his wife. Unfortunately for them, the more they campaign against our candidate, the more popular he becomes. Perhaps the PDP would have stood a better chance of winning the forthcoming polls if its State Governors, in particular, have devoted as much time and energy to running their states as they have devoted to maligning Gen. Buhari.”