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Maj.-Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd) (credits:
nairaland.com)
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The
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari, has said his desire not to become a hostage to anyone is the reason
behind his decision to rely on the sacrifices of ordinary Nigerians to fund his
campaign, The Punch reports.
Buhari
said this at a press briefing on the Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari Crowd Funding
Platform, in Abuja, on Tuesday.
This
is even as he announced that N54, 415,386.70 had so far been received as
donations through direct deposit and sale of cards.
He
expressed the confidence that the financial support he was receiving from
ordinary Nigerians would see him through the campaign period.
According
to him, his supporters who floated the platform drew inspiration from the
United States of America President, Barack Obama’s campaign.
The
candidate noted that when Obama first came on the scene, he did not enjoy the
support of big corporations for a variety of reasons, but that he was able to
surmount this challenge when he turned to ordinary Americans who shared his
dream.
Buhari
said, “My strength mainly are the ordinary people and the N100 they are
contributing. It is a lot of money for them but I know they will make the
sacrifice especially when I said I am not going to sign the cheque to get even a
kobo out of that account. That
is why I depend on them. We are taking this idea from what we have seen in the
United States when Barack Obama came out to contest, he was a coloured person,
the big companies were not for him and so on.
“But
he knew he had foot soldiers, so when he came up with this idea, he was able to
finance his campaign without looking for money-bags or anybody influential. So,
he remained independent and was not held hostage by anybody. And this is what I
want to achieve.”
He
said the Buhari Support Organization currently had 82 registered support groups
with over 475, 796 coordinators and a total membership in the region of 8,
492,226 across the country.
Buhari
explained that the organization intended to use the registration and donation
cards to enlist the members of the groups as volunteer change agents and also
to capture the spatial distribution of its donors.
While
acknowledging that Nigerians were going through a difficult time, he expressed
the confidence that they would make the requisite sacrifices to bring about a
positive change.
He
used the occasion to debunk the well-publicized N27.5m loan he allegedly
obtained to pay for his nomination forms.
Buhari
added that he made attempts to get the leadership of the APC to reduce the
amount payable for the forms but his move was rejected.
He
said, “I told them that I cannot complain because I happen to be a senior
member of the party. So, I put a quick call to my bank manager (and said)
whatever is the state of my account, please don’t dishonour that cheque and
that’s what my manager did.
“So,
people developed their own stories from there and so on. What happened is
between my manager and I. It is always confidential.”
Also,
a group under the auspices of the House-to-House Education Initiative has
announced support for Buhari’s campaign.
The
National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Kunle Ehinlanwo, told newsmen in Abuja,
that “our initial idea was to support the re-election of President Goodluck
Jonathan believing that continuity will better serve our democracy.
“But
on a deeper review and careful analysis of the situation in the country, we are
not convinced with the performance of the present administration.
“We
have consequently decided to throw our support in favour of Maj. Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari, the Presidential candidate of the APC.”
The
group said it was convinced that Buhari was a better man for the challenging
job.
Accordingly, the
House-to-House Educational Initiative pledged to henceforth campaign vigorously
to canvass support for the election of Buhari and his running mate, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo, ahead of the 2015 general elections across the 36 states of the
federation.
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