Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos State governor, at the weekend took a swipe at
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he is not in a good position to
champion the anti-corruption drive.
Atiku had vowed to fight
corruption like never before if given the chance to preside over
Nigeria’s affairs, saying he was well equipped to fight corruption
because of his vast experience both in the public and private sectors
and his ability to build a team capable of accomplishing the task.
“I will shock everyone because I believe that I will fight corruption like never before,” he had said.
However,
speaking with journalists during the peace meeting held with aggrieved
aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Marina, Ambode said
there was no way any responsible leader would decide to wage a frontal
battle against corruption without it fighting back.
Describing
the 16 years reign of the PDP as ’16 years of corruption’, Ambode said
the opposition is desperate to unseat President Buhari in 2019 so as to
return Nigeria to the old ways when corruption was endemic.
Ambode
who said he is aligning with President Buhari for reelection as
president of Nigeria said three and a half years is not enough to
reverse the rot caused by the PDP in its 16 years rule.
He said
“You see, everybody is very clear about what is going on. In any
environment, when you put up a crusade that you want to fight
corruption, it’s very clear that corruption will always fight back. The
fundamental reform about the way we do things is the underbelly for this
anti-corruption drive.
“The way we do things in this country,
they are not the right ways that can give us prosperity and President
Buhari decided, on his own, that he would champion this crusade
irrespective of how corruption will fight back.
“But again, when you have had 16 years of corruption and we’ve just only had three and a half years of reversing it, the way they are fighting back is trying to take government from him so that we can go back to our old ways of putting this country in penury, that is the crux of this election.”
Share your thoughts