Hannatu Musawa, the deputy presidential campaign spokesperson for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said her principal would be honest with Nigerians about the successes and shortcomings of the Muhammadu Buhari administration during the forthcoming campaigns.
According to Musawa, Tinubu would be doing “injustice” to Nigerians by pretending that there are no challenges that the current Buhari administration has failed to address.
The Katsina-born lawyer, and human and women’s rights activist, also admitted that the citizens were going through a “terrible situation of insecurity” but assured that Tinubu would devise new means of addressing the problems if given the opportunity to lead in 2023.
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THE WHISTLER reports that Nigerians are preparing to elect a new leader to succeed President Buhari on February 25, 2023.
Key among the challenges the next president would be faced with is the insecurity fueled by bandits and various gangs and ethnic militias who have waged war against the government in the North West and other parts of Nigeria.
But Musawa, who holds a law degree from the University of Buckingham, UK, and a Master’s Degree from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, told Arise TV on Wednesday that Tinubu would design a new strategy different from that of the Buhari administration to address the country’s security and other challenges.
“There is no doubt that we have had some challenges and it would be an injustice to us and the Nigerian population to pretend that there have not been challenges. But like I said, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima are going to try to look at those challenges and try to bring out different programmes that would be able to address them in a different way.
“And I just want to make another point when it comes to the judgment of the government. I have a personal philosophy which is that on the road to success, you are bound to have challenges and problems and you know sometimes as human beings we look at things in the now because we are all living through this terrible situation of insecurity and so many challenges that Nigerians are having.
“But you know sometimes when it comes to the judgment of government, that can be shortsighted (but) history has the benefit of hindsight and with that benefit, posterity may be able to judge this government a little bit less harshly,” she said.
Musawa, who is the daughter of the prominent Katsina politician, Alhaji Musa Musawa, stressed that in trying to woo Nigerians to vote for him, Tinubu would base his campaign on issues and honesty.
“We are running an honest campaign (and) we are going to be honest with Nigerians. There have been areas where we could have done better with the economy but even at that, we have to take into consideration that the global economy is sort of still trying to recover. The Ukraine war has upended the very fragile resurgence from the pandemic and as a result of that, it has resulted in a sort of a global crisis and Nigeria is not the only one going through economic challenge,” she said.
Musawa added, “We would consolidate on those gains, and of course, while there must be some complaints about the (Buhari) administration, there are many areas where there have been a lot of gains.
“In the area of infrastructure, this government has done very well despite the paucity of funds (and) dwindling resources. In the area of Agriculture, I think one of the main objectives of this government was to try to increase food security. And I think it’s done lots of interventions in that regard. It has increased livestock production with cultivation…areas like that.
“You look at the Social Investments Programmes. Under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the Minster, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Faruk has done a fantastic job. Specifically, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the social investment programme has opened programmes such as the Conditional Cash Transfer and the School Feeding programmes that have opened the way for lots of vulnerable people within the society. So, they are areas which we would be able to consolidate on.”
Musawa further revealed that Tinubu was currently working with a “high-powered team” to tweak his manifesto which she said would be released in no distant time.