Former Head of State and Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday said the party would wipe out the insecurity bedevilling the nation.
Buhari said this on a current affairs programme on Liberty Radio, Kaduna, where he also accused the government of denying citizens their rights to freedom of expression.
This was in veiled reference to the quizzing by the Department of State Security of a chieftain of the APC, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
El-Rufai was accused by the DSS of making inciting statements ahead of the 2015 general election.
He said that while El-Rufai was being questioned, a similar comment by the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujahi Asari Dokubo, did not attract any sanction.
Rather, Buhari, still speaking in veiled reference, alleged that Dokubo was ferried in a presidential jet from Benin Republic when he ran into stormy waters there.
Dokubo and the Presidency have denied that report.
According to Buhari on the radio programme, the APC is also determined to improve the economic status of Nigerians.
He said: “Like I have said, we have to properly secure and manage this country.
“You cannot deny citizens their rights to express their own opinion and allow some people to brazenly threaten the corporate existence of the country.
“And instead of inviting them and asking them to explain themselves to the nation, they are given a ride in presidential jets.
“When others do it, you go and lock them up or you harass them.
“That is not the way to do things.
“There is also this problem of insecurity in the land, both physical and material, which the All Progressives Congress is about to wipe out, God willing.”
Buhari stressed the need for the entrenchment of proper democratic system in the country.
He said: “All we are fighting for is to have proper democracy.
“What I mean is that whatever people say, whether they reflect briefly on it or not, Nigerians are now well aware of their rights and what they expect from government.
“In APC, we have reduced it to two: your security and sound economic management.
“We have to secure this country and manage it properly.
“I think people have suffered enough.
“They are now prepared to listen and I believe they are listening and are cooperating.”
Buhari said Nigerians were also interested in having free and fair elections, which was key to multi-party democracy.
He said: “We went to court before now to make sure that this multi-party democracy takes firm root in the country.
“Our objective as a party is to ensure that the system will be strong enough to guarantee security and prosperity for this country.”
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