Fear and anxiety appears to have gripped the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the victory of Muhammadu Buhari, as the winner of Nigerian’s bitterly contested presidential election.
Today’s sources at the NDC’s headquarters revealed that the landmark victory of 72-year-old Buhari on Tuesday April 1, 2015 sent shivers down the spines of those in the corridors of power in Ghana.
The issue of Buhari’s victory, Today learnt was said to have dominated conversations and discussions among key and influential members of the ruling party at its Kokomlemle headquarters, Flagstaff House and Kukuhill office of the party at Osu, in Accra.
The sources told this paper that the king makers of the NDC were contemplating over what would be the effects on the party in the 2016 General Elections asserting that, Buhari’s win will put the party in competitive disadvantage.
According to grapevine sources at the seat of government, the movers and shakers of the NDC were putting pressure on President Mahama to impress upon the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bodi Constituency in the Western region, Samson Ahi to render an unqualified apology to Buhari for describing him as “sick and old man”.
It would be recalled that on March 14, 2015, whilst addressing students of the Sefwi Wiawso College of Education, Samson Ahi noted that Ghana and Nigeria had a lot in common, explaining that the opposition leaders of the two countries, Nana Akufo-Addo and General Buhari respectively would be rejected by their electorate because of their old ages.
“If you look at Nigeria, they also have an old man there who instead of taking care of his grandchildren is desperate to be president and to unseat the young man. It is the same story we have in Ghana. If you look at Nigeria again, you will see that the Nigerians have rejected that old man several times but he still wants to run and it is the same in Ghana too. If you look at Nigeria the old man wants to do everything to win power and it is the same in Ghana the minister said.
He used the occasion to urge both countries to retire the two opposition leaders in their upcoming elections so as to pave way for the new generation to take the mantle of leadership.
Today can however confirm that, representatives of General Buhari’s party, All Progressives Congress (APC), expressed disquiet about t the comments and complained to President Mahama to sanction his deputy minister of water resources, works and housing.
“President Mahama, to our surprise, did not reprimand his minister because he was cocksure that President Jonathan was going to emerge victorious and as such did not bother to even call the leadership of the APC to apologise,” a source at the Flagstaff House told this paper.
President Mahama’s support of his “brother”, Goodluck Jonathan is not a secret in the diplomatic circles.
Victory for former military ruler Buhari marked the first time in Nigeria’s history that an opposition party has democratically taken control of the country from the ruling party.
The 72-year-old built an early lead in northern states dominated by the mainly Muslim, Hausa-Fulani ethnic group of which he is a member.
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