President Goodluck Jonathan’s kinsman and former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, has warned Nigerians against voting for the president if they truly want a Nigeria of their dream.
He also said the President does not deserve a second term having failed woefully in the almost six years he had been in the saddle as head of the Nigerian government.
Speaking on a television programme monitored by our correspondent, Sylva lamented the state of the country’s economy under the president saying everything was in shambles.
Sylva wondered why Nigeria could fail in the fight against Boko Haram which has rendered parts of the country almost useless and even formed a parallel government.
He also said Jonathan had sinned against the country and its people for weakening the country’s currency.
“A dollar now exchanges for between 190 and N200 since the Central Bank of Nigeria devalued the naira,” he said.
Sylva, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) slammed the president for his weakness and inability to curtail oil theft in the country.
He said he was sure that the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, would be able to tackle these challenges and return the country on the path of peace, progress and development.
“Buhari tackled oil theft in 1984. The government has said oil theft is one of the biggest problems, but it doesn’t know what to do about it. We need somebody like Buhari to come in and tackle these issues,” Sylva said.
“Ethnicity doesn’t influence my reason for supporting Buhari. Nigeria’s biggest problem today is Boko Haram. Before, it was militancy and a lot of Nigerians felt that somebody from that area should be president.
“So, it would be better now for somebody from the north who understands the issues around that area to be president.”
Sylva maintained that even Bayelsa State where the president hails from has not witnessed any benefit of the Jonathan’s administration.
Sylva said because of the Niger-Delta people are one of the most disenchanted people. The East-West Road is still where it has been.
“There is nothing that tells you that there is federal presence in Bayelsa, apart from University of Otuoke which is a glorified secondary school,” he said.
“The mindset of the people of Niger Delta is that you don’t have to have your person before you have development.”
