Nigeria almost a disaster under Buhari, says Olawepo-Hashim

Frontline politician and businessman, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim says Nigerians are tired of the two dominant parties in Nigeria -- the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Olawepo-Hashim, was founding member of the PDP and a former deputy publicity secretary of the party.

Addressing select journalists in Abuja at the weekend, the politician and business mogul noted that the APC and PDP will not win the presidential seat in the 2019 elections.

He said that Nigeria under the President Muhammadu Buhariis “almost in a disaster” due to some actions inactions of the government.

“Both political parties (APC and PDP) are in disarray,” he announced. “The truth is that Nigerians are tired of both the APC and the PDP. They are not the place to be for a serious minded Nigerian who wants to effect the need change and liberate our country from its current challenges.

The PDP had been demoralized and the APD is in deep crisis in almost all the states across the country. The state and ward congresses is a testament to this fact. In 2019, a new party, the , will take over power from these two political parties because Nigerians are tired of the same crop of politicians.

“Quote me anywhere, both parties will be defeated in 2019.” Olawepo-Hashim declared.

‘The 2015 mistake’

Like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Olawepo-Hashim advised Nigerians not to make the ‘mistake of 2015’ by re-electing President Buhari.

He described the 2015 election as a referendum against the then President, Goodluck Jonathan.

He, however, cautioned that Nigerians “must not vote anyone but Buhari” but a credible leader in 2019.

“In 2015, there was no election. We had a referendum against Jonathan where people said any idiot was better than Jonathan. There was this general feeling in 2015 that ‘Jonathan must go’. There was this feeling that just anybody but Jonathan was good for the nation. That notion must change.

“Just like what we are facing at the moment, just anybody can be worse than Jonathan. According to the data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics, when Jonathan was leaving, unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, but now there is 600 percent increase in unemployment rate. We are almost in a disaster on the economy.

“This time around, it cannot just be anybody. We must interrogate to be sure who we want as the president. It must not just be ‘Buhari must go’ because anybody can as well be worse than Buhari’’, he stated.

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‘The corruption toga’

Olawepo-Hashim, a former governorship aspirant in Kwara state, expressed displeasure at the politics of division employed by most Nigerian leaders adding that most Nigerians are not corrupt.

“There are values that must guide our leaders. Nigerians are people of integrity. Mindless looting is not who we are. We are a decent people. Our leaders should be able to champion our positive values.

“There are leaders who talk down on the country, that Nigeria is corrupt, and they think they can increase their political value by debasing and demeaning the country and talking down on their people. That’s not the business of leadership.

"The business of leadership is to inspire change with the greatest value and the history of the people and propel them on the path of national reconstruction. Our people are people of values and that is the country that I grew up to know,” he added.

He blamed the country’s economic challenges on the “mismanagement and poor of leadership quality” of “those sneaked into power”.

Olawepo-Hashim, a presidential hopeful also disclosed plans to officially declare his intention to contest for position of Nigeria’s top job in the coming days.