The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described the completion of the Second Niger Bridge as an affirmation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s position that governance would not suffer with the commencement of campaigns towards the 2023 general elections.
The group also believes that by starting and completing the Bridge, President Buhari has broken the decades-old jinx that had bedevilled the project which had been on the drawing board since 1968.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said that this is also in line with a Presidential assurance that 2023 will be a year of project commissioning.
“In a country that is used to the business of governance recording a slowing down or outright abandonment in months leading to general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari’s assurance can be described as a breath of fresh air.
“It clearly is in line with what key officials of the Buhari administration have often said about 2023 being a year of project commissioning and a readiness to deliver on promises to leave a legacy of development to posterity.
“And indeed what better way to signpost a government that is ready to work till its last day in office than the announcement by Works Minister, Babatunde Fashola that the second Niger Bridge, which previous administrations had used as a campaign promise, is now completed.
“It is also worth noting that several other Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) projects are ongoing and, according to the President, a number of them including the 120km Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the 375 km Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano expressway and the East-West road are expected to be completed before the terminal date of the Buhari administration.
“We need to further remind Nigerians that on the President’s watch, the country is set to revive its national air carrier while work is expected to commence soon on the Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri rail line and the Calabar–Lagos Coastal Line to connect the Southern and Eastern States.
“So the President’s admonition to his appointees that the business of governance must continue to receive the needed attention during the electioneering period is well in line with his plan to leave a legacy of performance.
“For us, it is a reflection of Buhari’s patriotism and a determination that Nigerians don’t suffer as a result of the forthcoming elections”, the statement added.
BMO also urged the subnationals to take a cue from the patriotic stance of President Buhari on the continuity of governance in election seasons.
It said: “While it is true that many Nigerians are already used to governance suffering in election year almost across board, we believe that President Buhari should be a reference point for state governors nearing the end of their tenure in office.
“This is because, with too much attention at the centre, many states which have not been living up to their potentials would be further affected by a slowdown in governance because of campaigns.
“So it is advisable that governors take a cue from this attitude and read the riot act to their officials on the need to keep working for the people until the end of their tenure.”
The group also used the opportunity to reaffirm its position that President Buhari would leave the country better than he met it on assuming office in 2015.
