Buhari Decries Corruption, Picks Osinbajo as Running Mate

Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), presidential standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), seems to have struck the right chord with Nigerians fed up with leaders filling their pockets.

The speech he wrote to delegates before APC chose him to contest next year’s presidential election is still resonating:  “I am not a rich person; I can’t give you a pocketful of dollars or naira to purchase your support”

Buhari, who brushed aside criticism of delay in picking a running mate, lamented the state of decay in the country, saying it was unfortunate that the plight of Nigerians had worsened 30 years after his attempt to instill discipline in the society

He scored another when he agreed on a running mate in the person of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State.

Buhari said that “I want a Nigeria … where corruption no longer trespasses into our institutions and national behavior,” highlighting his main selling point: during his previous stint in power from 1983-85 he is widely believed to have kept his fingers out of the till, according to Reuters.

Buhari faces President Goodluck Jonathan in a February  14 election in Africa’s biggest economy that analysts think may be too close to call.

Graft scandals, most recently a claim by a former central bank governor that between $10 billion and $20 billion owed to state coffers by the national oil company were not remitted, have fueled public anger. The government has promised an audit.

Buhari has growing appeal among an intellectual class in whose minds he has taken on almost messianic qualities as the man who can save Nigeria. Others remember less celebrated bits of his past — like crackdowns on press freedom and detaining political opponents without charge.

Either way, he will also prove a divisive figure in a vote in which ethnic and religious sentiments remain paramount.

“People love him or they hate him. There’s no middle ground,” said Kayode Akindele, CEO of consultancy 46 Parallels.

Meanwhile, Bukola Saraki , former Kwara State Governor and the Lagos State APC chapter have congratulated Osinbajo on his emergence as the vice presidential candidate.

 Osinbajo, a Professor of Law and a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), edged out others who were having the chance of being picked to pair with Buhari in the February 14, 2015 presidential election.

Osinbajo’s name may not ring a bell in political circles but in the matter of picking a running mate for the presidential ticket holder in the APC, his choice had been Buhari’s ‘Plan B,’ it was learnt last night.