2019 Election: The Coordinator, South-East Caucus, National Committee of Buhari Support Group, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, has said that Buhari’s victory in Southeast is assured come 2019.
He averred this that at the inaugural meeting of the caucus, in Abuja on Thursday, where he insisted that nothing will stop President Muhammadu Buhari from a landslide victory in the zone in 2019.
Uzodinma noted that their target was to deliver not less than six million votes out of estimated eight million registered voters in the South-East, adding they would not rest until victory is achieved.
He said an overwhelming vote that will return Buhari as President in 2019 will guarantee the South-East an opportunity to produce the President in 2023.
Adding: “The national leadership has approved the operation of this caucus and we are going to go for it, bearing in mind that if we succeed we will smile very well in 2023.
“We are going to tag our operation, ‘Operation 2023’, meaning that by the time Mr. President wins convincingly in the South-East, the name of the business will be ‘Reciprocity’.
“This means, I have done for you, you are now to do for me.”
He said that the caucus has a well thought out plan that would ensure they deliver on their mandate in 2019.
“Every booth in South-East belongs to some people. They have leaders and if the message is given to them in a manner that they will understand, I am sure that we will succeed.
“There is no point claiming headship; the common denominator is what would make President Buhari, out of the eight million registered voters in the South-East, to get a minimum of six million votes.
“In doing that, we have to make sacrifices and call some people to order. We will do our beat.
“For me as a person, we will try to convince and those that will willingly follow will follow.’’
He said there’s going to be a mega rally which Buhari has already accepted, adding that management structures would be set up at the state, local government and ward as well as booth levels, for better delivery.
“Before some of us came into the party I was told you do not use the money to do politics; now we are going to use the money to do politics.
“We are going to do that knowing very well that the tradition and culture of our people require that.
“We cannot begin to learn a new culture when the election is a few days away. So we will start from the known to the unknown.
“We are going to work with the President and by the grace of God, he will win in 2019.
“However, we have to establish criteria for knowing who a leader is when we get home.
“A leader is a man who wins his booth. A man who doesn’t win his booth is a pensioner. So, we will identify the right type of people that will in the frontline, give us victory,’’ he said.
“I am optimistic that working as a team with love and providing accommodation for each and everyone; we will have no reason not to succeed.
“It is your goodwill in your various states that will translate to the President’s goodwill.
“We will take the risk and guarantee the president so that our people will vote for him and he will win, knowing very well that after 2023, it will be Alleluia all the way.’’
On his part, the National Chairman, Buhari Support Group, Mustapha Ahmed, said the group had been working assiduously to raise the support base of the president.
“National Committee of Buhari Support Group started about three years ago and we were given the mandate to go round the 36 states plus the FCT.
“The essence was to identify and ascertain groups that worked for the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 elections and so far the base has been increased,’’ he noted.
Inaugurating the caucus, Chairman, National Committee of Buhari Support Group Board of Trustees, Sen. Abu Ibrahim, said the group was established to coordinate various support groups to sell the ideals of the President.
He was represented by the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang, who noted that various groups remained important channels of outreach between the government and the citizenry.
“Many of the support groups that registered with the National Committee of Buhari Support Group existed before the 2015 election.
“They piloted the grassroots initiative via which the president’s message of hope was delivered in the nooks and crannies of the country.
“As we inaugurate this caucus, I call on all and sundry to remain steadfast in the onerous task of nation-building and effort to fight crimes and reposition the country for sustained and inclusive growth.
“Let it remain our collective duty to restore this country’s pride because we have no choice.
“This land belongs to all of us and we must all work tirelessly to make it better for our children and generations to come.
“The `naysayers’ need to know that we shall never give up this God-given right” he stated.