Former Nigerian Petroleum Minister, Don Etiebet, has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has 12 million votes already ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
He said that Buhari’s chances of re-election were very bright, citing the pattern of voting across the country that will favour him.
Fielding questions from Vanguard, Etiebet, who is the Chairman of Akwa Ibom APC Caucus highlighted some of the achievements of the president, adding that nobody in the country can match Buhari’s base of support.
He said, “Buhari has created an atmosphere of fear for people not to be as corrupt as before. Look at what is happening in the case of Treasury Single Account (TSA); all of those trillions of Naira in the bank now through the TSA, where was it before?
“Public servants were taking all the money and nothing was saved. The country has been able to come out of recession because President Buhari has been able to get these monies that would have been looted.
“And you have also heard about all the monies looted in the Ministry of Petroleum. You have heard about all the monies looted in the Ministry of Defense which were meant to fight Boko-Haram but they didn’t use them.
“The Bible says ‘seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all other things shall be added unto you.’
“The Kingdom of God to reposition Nigeria for economic growth is to bring corruption to zero level. It may not get to zero level but can be reduced to a level that can allow development.
“So many things have to be reprogrammed, restructured and repositioned for the country to progress and you cannot achieve that overnight.
“But President Buhari has laid the foundation for achieving that and that is why I am supporting him. Since 2003 when President Buhari first entered the presidential election, he has had a base of support that you cannot dismantle.
“In 2003, go and check the records, 12 million votes; 2006, 12 million; 2014, 12 million; 2015, 12 million, plus the top up from the South –West that didn’t vote for him before; like Kano which was PDP before, and Jigawa that was PDP before.