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By Simeon Nwakaudu

As I watched the APC Grand Finale of the Ekiti Gubernatorial Rally on Channels Television, it became manifestly clear that the leadership of this vicious party knows that they have no future in the state. One after the other, they issued threats of violence and manipulation, cloaked in tacit claims of the control of the security apparatus.

With the Failed President seated, speaker after speaker issued veiled threats of violence on the Ekiti electorate and their outgoing governor, very little was said of the competence of their candidate and what the party brings to the table.

The most disheartening were the words of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello who is on the lowest level of performance in the country. On national television, he declared that he drove into Ekiti State with a convoy of thugs and stated that he will be on the ground with the thugs on July 14.

Yahaya Bello went ahead to say that he and his thugs would have inflicted bodily harm on Governor Fayose if they had attended the Stakeholders meeting that ended in a rowdy session. He stated that the APC would forcefully claim Ekiti State.

Another funny speaker was the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari. The Former Chief Security Officer of Zamfara State had the courage to campaign in another state when his state has failed with people dying in thousands. Zamfara State represents one of the sad realities of the disgusting failures of this power-miss-road administration. A once peaceful state pre-2015 has become a theatre of war, deaths, poverty, hunger, sorrow and deprivation.

Zamfara captures the totality of the reasons why all men and women of goodwill must sack Buhari and all his cronies. They know nothing about governance, let alone good governance. The Governor of Zamfara State in a saner clime ought not to go close to political gatherings until he sorts the security situation in his failed state.

Despite the horror of the presentations of his party men, President Muhammadu Buhari made no attempt to call them to order. He simply reached for his pocket, brought out a prepared speech and struggled to justify the ungodly insecurity claiming thousands of lives across the country.

He pointed fingers but refused to accept responsibility. He blamed politicians but was quiet on the compromised security architecture. Expectedly, nothing was said on how the Federal Government will check the rampaging Fulani herdsmen.

President Muhammadu Buhari must realise that until he outlines an action plan to curtail the viciousness of Fulani herdsmen, it will be assumed that he supports their rampaging genocide in unprotected communities.

It is even more disheartening that officials of the APC Federal Government only outline how the killer Fulani herdsmen will be pacified and not how lasting peace will be restored. As the Presidency explained, it is better to be alive on land than to be killed by Fulani herdsmen and buried under the ground. Therefore, statements of blame-trading only emphasize that the President is not ready to handle this challenge

As I gathered my thoughts, I read that killings continued on Tuesday as over 100 persons were killed in Taraba, Adamawa and Sokoto States. This administration is doing practically nothing to protect Nigerians.

But the Buhari administration can send 30,000 policemen, six drones, 10, 000 soldiers, 15, 000 para-military personnel, six Generals, several armoured personnel carriers, armoured helicopters and aircraft to help rig the Ekiti elections. On the other hand, they have contracted prayer warriors for Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa, Zamfara and Sokoto.

Speaking at the failed APC Rally, President Muhammadu Buhari could not outline the advantages that will accrue to the Ekiti people if they vote for the APC Governorship Candidate.

All the failed President Muhammadu Buhari did be to advise the Ekiti people to stop following Fayose who gives them stomach infrastructure. The Failed President never gave them an alternative.

The Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige exemplified the Biblical verse in Matthew 12:34, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks ” when he endorsed Fayose at that rally. That was the highpoint of proceedings. It shows that even in the subconscious of APC leaders, they know that Ekiti State belongs to the PDP.

The crowd did not reject Ngige’s statement. They agreed with him and listened to his narration from beginning to the end. They agreed with the points made. My real take is that the crowd was rented from outside Ekiti, hence their passive response. A crowd of APC supporters would have shouted down Ngige.

Recall that when APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu asked the crowd if they have been to Lagos before, they replied that they were from Lagos.

All through Wednesday, policemen detailed by the Presidency terrorised the people of Ekiti with the intention of intimidating them into submission. This ugly technique will fail.

The failure of the APC Grand Finale of the Ekiti Gubernatorial Rally is a clear message to outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari. For three years he failed to improve the security and welfare of Nigerians. Therefore, concocting achievements in the dying minutes and using security agencies to manipulate the electoral process won’t save him. Nigerians are determined to take back their country from criminally minded individuals who are only interested in holding power without using it to improve the lives of the people. This arrogant display of power will fail on Saturday.