The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Affairs, Prof. Rufai Alkali, has said the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, are overestimating their capacity and chances in the forthcoming presidential election. He added that there is no way APC and Buhari can defeat President Jonathan at the polls. Alkali stated this in an interview with the Punch. When asked if APC’s comment that Jonathan has been having sleepless nights since Buhari emerged as their candidate is true, Alkali said, “Sometimes, you have people who overestimate their capacity and we don’t blame them. Let them carry on with that notion that they are big, they are strong and that they can conquer the PDP. The PDP has a long history in terms of its organisational capability in relation to the various organs of the party; they work in tandem with one another every day, every hour, every second. There is no state, local government, ward or village in this country where you will go to and not find the PDP flag flying. These are the same statements they made in the run-off of the 2011 elections; these are the kind of statements that contributed to the serious security challenges that we are having today. If the PDP can lose some governors, some senators and members of the House of Representatives and still remain on the ground, it means that the PDP is a formidable party. If you talk about internal democracy, they lack it; if you talk about giving people a fair chance in terms of access to power at their own level, they have not done that.” Excerpts. Why do you think President Goodluck Jonathan is the man to beat in the presidential election? President Goodluck Jonathan is a man of destiny. He did not seek for this position and he did not fight for it, it was God himself that bestowed it on him at a very critical stage in our nation’s history. Since then, he has demonstrated consistently that he is a man that is concerned with the welfare of the people of this country. He has, within the shortest period of his coming to power, offered hope and his hands of friendship to everyone, despite the criticisms against him; despite all the efforts by the opposition to distract his attention, he has remained focused. What is your response to allegations that the Jonathan presidency has been tolerant of corruption? Corruption, unfortunately, has become a universal phenomenon; it is worldwide and its impacts on individual nations are different. But the President, as you know, has also done everything humanly possible to ensure that the institutions responsible for tackling corruption remain focused. He does not interfere with their works, he supports and encourages them. Everybody has a role in this fight (against graft). For somebody to say, ‘When I come into power, I am going to bring lasting peace in this country,’ I don’t think this should be the case; he should play an important role in bringing lasting peace now. To say ‘I am going to wait until I get to power before I bring lasting peace’ means he can tolerate what is happening until he gets to this position of authority before he does anything. According to our African tradition, when there is fire in the house, everybody comes out with his bucket or calabash to look for water and quench the fire. It is not the time to pass the blame; it is not the time to begin to judge what the cause of the fire is. The most important thing is to quench the fire. The first thing to do is to quench the fire. After that, you can begin to ask who caused the fire and when it started. But now, when you have serious challenges facing the country, like a lot of countries in the world are facing today, we are still trading blames, of what value is that? The President’s opponents argue that his response to challenges facing the nation, especially in the area of security, has exposed his lack of capacity to lead. Do you agree? What kind of capacity are they talking about? Are they not the same people who shouted that he was abusing human rights when he ordered a military operation in an area. They have refused to understand that governance is something that requires consultation, coordination and communication, and needs very good information. They cannot sit in the comfort of their homes and dictate to the President. The All Progressives Congress has said President Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party now suffer from insomnia (lack of sleep) since the emergence of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as its flag bearer. What is your response to this? Sometimes, you have people who overestimate their capacity and we don’t blame them. Let them carry on with that notion that they are big, they are strong and that they can conquer the PDP. The PDP has a long history in terms of its organisational capability in relation to the various organs of the party; they work in tandem with one another every day, every hour, every second. There is no state, local government, ward or village in this country where you will go to and not find the PDP flag flying. These are the same statements they made in the run-off of the 2011 elections; these are the kind of statements that contributed to the serious security challenges that we are having today. If the PDP can lose some governors, some senators and members of the House of Representatives and still remain on the ground, it means that the PDP is a formidable party. If you talk about internal democracy, they lack it; if you talk about giving people a fair chance in terms of access to power at their own level, they have not done that. The APC also said your party chose to endorse the President, rather than allow for transparent presidential primaries, saying it was a demonstration of your party’s departure from democratic norms. What is your take on this? I pity those people who don’t understand issues. Sometimes, they do not think out of the box, they are sometimes narrow-minded when they should demonstrate a maximum understanding of the system. What our constitution says is that the party should have a process of selecting its candidate. The party has a process of selecting its candidates and this is the process the party chose. Remember that President Goodluck Jonathan was the last person to buy his nomination forms; after purchasing his forms, the party waited a few more days for others to purchase and submit their forms. What the party said was that we were in peculiar circumstances and peculiar circumstances required peculiar solutions. The party had to put its house in order; we were not going to create rancour or bitter conflicts. We looked at all the options and we found that endorsing Mr. President for a second term was the best thing that could be done to strengthen the party. Remember there was a time when all their candidates emerged by consensus, there were no primaries.

Read full story here: http://www.today.ng/politics/buhari-apc-are-overestimating-their-capacity-cant-defeat-pdp-alkali/

Alkali should just try and campaign for Jonathan on his own street. Let's see if he can survive five minutes of campaign for Jonathan on his own street.

Na the kind people wey dey deceive Jonadunce be this.

Apc dream a lot... GEJ till 2019!!!

[s]

temitemi1:
Apc dream a lot... GEJ till 2019!!!

[/s]

Robot, go and die!

#WHOWIN2015 WHO BECOME NIGERIA PRESIDENT IN 2015 ? GEJ OR GMB
Vote Online Now! http://www.whowin.org/ #WHOWIN2015 via @whowinng

Wo Mr alkali or alkaline or warever you call yourself stop bothering ur peanut brain on the supporter base of APC and how they'll win come feBUHARI 14th and start advicing ur ex-president Jokenathan on the best way to return to otuoke either by treking or using canoe and don't forget to arrange labourers like FFK, Okupe and Dayo to pack the load.

yibomustgo:
Alkali should just try and campaign for Jonathan on his own street. Let's see if he can survive five minutes of campaign for Jonathan on his own street.

Na the kind people wey dey deceive Jonadunce be this.

But people can canpainge for Buhari even on Jonathan's street and nothing will happen to them?

2015 elections will surely expose the fraud called Nigeria the more.
The ripples will lead us closer to the dis-amalgamation:

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noblezone:


But people can canpainge for Buhari even on Jonathan's street and nothing will happen to them?

2015 elections will surely expose the fraud called Nigeria the more.
The ripples will lead us closer to the dis-amalgamation:

[/s]

Trash.

It's a good speech for we Nigerians to know the person we are voting for.. GEJ has the capacity, capability and a good sense of humour to carry everybody along to finish what he has started... APC has not gotten a good and qualify CANDIDATE like GMB to stand with GEJ..

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abunana:
It's a good speech for we Nigerians to know the person we are voting for.. GEJ has the capacity, capability and a good sense of humour to carry everybody along to finish what he has started... APC has not gotten a good and qualify CANDIDATE like GMB to stand with GEJ..

[/s]

Trash!

I forsee Tinubu runing to America with lagos allocation money After thos election.

Watching events unfold.

Apc think the can win election only with propaganda but,4getting that an avarage nigerian does not ave time to read and listen to newz.

This is the problem with APC. They show bigger than life attitude. When they loose, they will scream blue murder.
what some people dont understand is that the people that will be at d pooling units are not these political analysts.
They wud rather be following the progress, commenting on Nairaland and blogs than sit under the sun to vote.

Good number of them sees the day as a recreational day. Check d gym center, goes with hubby in a nice fitted canvass jogging.
When results start filling in they will be arguing with a bottle of champagne--ahhh is not possibull.GEJ has rigged it ni oo.Then casala go burst.
Just that this time around GEJ will show them another side of him. GEJ knows that he has been tossed around too much cuz of his mien. I pity some politicians that will run their mouth when GEJ must have been sworn in.

The PDP should play fair and I bet you Alkali or is it Alkaline will wash his mouth with soap!.

We all know the PDP has the best record of rigging elections in the world!.

yibomustgo:
Alkali should just try and campaign for Jonathan on his own street. Let's see if he can survive five minutes of campaign for Jonathan on his own street.

Na the kind people wey dey deceive Jonadunce be this.

you don't want to learn, Oily head

joseph1832:
The PDP should play fair and I bet you Alkali or is it Alkaline will wash his mouth with soap!.

We all know the PDP has the best record of rigging elections in the world!.

fool, you think APC is playing fair up north?

Hypocrite.

Tribal3AST:
fool, you think APC is playing fair up north?

Hypocrite.

Mr man do you think the PDP has been playing fair since 1999?.

joseph1832:
Mr man do you think the PDP has been playing fair since 1999?.

do you think APC and Yoruba slaves are currently playing fair?

Tribal3AST:
do you think APC and Yoruba slaves are currently playing fair?

When was the APC established? The PDP has a world class record of not playing fair! Even late Yar'Adua attest that the election that brought him to power was greatly flawed, and how flawed it, PDP!.

joseph1832:
When was the APC established? The PDP has a world class record of not playing fair! Even late Yar'Adua attest that the election that brought him to power was greatly flawed, and how flawed it, PDP!.

I don't believe in Nigerian politicians bruv. PDP and APC can go to hell for all I care. A case of kettle calling pot black.

Make he sidon for Abuja dey run mouth naw.. If dem born am well make he enter him village go campaign of GEJ naw

Tribal3AST:
I don't believe in Nigerian politicians bruv. PDP and APC can go to hell for all I care. A case of kettle calling pot black.

I see... If what you say is true, how come you attack APC so? You should have kept mute, but did you?.

It is people like u who create ethnic crisis. How can you call a group of people slaves, it is unfortunate that the attitude that led our fathers to where we are is still being displayed by our generation. Can't we just be polite in discussing national issues.

Tribal3AST:
do you think APC and Yoruba slaves are currently playing fair?

joseph1832:
I see... If what you say is true, how come you attack APC so? You should have kept mute, but did you?.

Because APC are hypocrites. They are beds of same feathers with PDP. Nuff said, I am looking for my preys.

angelawoko:
It is people like u who create ethnic crisis. How can you call a group of people slaves, it is unfortunate that the attitude that led our fathers to where we are is still being displayed by our generation. Can't we just be polite in discussing national issues.

Are Yorubas not northern slaves? I dare you to dispute that fact.

temitemi1:
Apc dream a lot... GEJ till 2019!!!

True. They are just full of tainted and unrealistic dreams. With PDP's structures (at both national and state levels) built over a period of 16 years, it's extremely difficult if not impossible for APC to wake up suddenly by making noise over the social media and newspapers thinking they can win the presidency in 2015! Impossible. Even 2019 is not realistic for them.

I see you are one of those who believe that the Nigerian entity is against you. I am yoruba and I am no slave and since okorocha is also a slave of apc all easterners are slave or does it also not add up that since Amechi is also a slave of apc all south-south citizens are slaves of apc.
I think you should stop this tribalistic way of life, dear you don't need it.

Tribal3AST:
Are Yorubas not northern slaves? I dare you to dispute that fact.

APC parroting the streets of Nigeria since 2014