Noah Ebije, Kaduna; Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
General Secretary of Textile Workers Union and National Executive Council member of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Issa Aremu, has said President Muhammadu Buhari has the constitutional right to seek re-election.
“The reported announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari of his intention to seek re-election in 2019 is largely a constitutional matter. For us in the labour movement, the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria allows for two-term tenure for the president, if elected, same for governors and open-ended for legislators.
“President Buhari certainly has the right, to seek re-election. Same constitution allows all eligible citizens to exercise their rights to vote and be voted for. The controversy over whether the president is contesting or not is, therefore, unnecessary.
“What is also clear is that Labour will also exercise its constitutional rights to vote based on critical assessment of all political office holders with respect to decent work, decent pay, employment, cost of living, security and building of a prosperous, fair, just and united Nigeria,” Aremu said in a statement, yesterday.
Regardless, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Enugu State chapter, Dr. Ben Nwoye, has described Buhari’s declaration as a new dawn in Nigeria political history.
Reacting to the declaration after the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the party’s secretariat yesterday, Nwoye disclosed that the hall had erupted in jubilations.
Justifying Buhari’s suitability for re-election, Nwoye expressed confidence that Nigerians will still vote for him in 2019.
“One thing you cannot dispute is that Nigerians love Buhari except the oppositions who are even the minority. They will always have their say, while majority of Nigerians will have their way. It is actually a new dawn in the political history of the country.
“Before the declaration, there tended to be lack of clarity as to where we were going. But having come out to inform his core followers in a personal capacity one year ahead, we are elated.
“There was an eruption of applause and cheering among NEC members when he declared. He has done well in turning the country around.
“He has pursued programmes of growth and made the country better. He has shown there is light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.