APC support groups urge Buhari to ignore ‘blackmailers’

The All Progressives Congress (APC) support groups in Abuja on Wednesday staged a counter protest in support of President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to ignore people they described as ‘blackmailers’.

The protesters, who walked from the Unity Fountain to the Presidential Villa’s main entrance, carried placards with the inscriptions of the achievements of Buhari’s administration.

The convener of the rally, Dr Paul Dowells, said that the sabotage within the corridors of power was becoming more alarming with the recent sponsored campaign against the President.

“This is being done under the guise of blackmailing Mamman Daura, Ismaila Funtua and Abba Kyari.

“We are members of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC. We are Pro-democracy, we are Pro-Buhari, we believe in your leadership qualities and strength of governance as you continue to sail the affairs of this entity called Nigeria.

“As a people, we agreed to stand and defend democracy, which we did for sixteen years before clinching power. The sacrifice of every individual is commendable, before, during and after the elections.

“Sir, we observed that, the two persons mentioned in a protest against you, Mamman Daura and Ismaila Funtua are not government appointees.

“They are patriotic Nigerians and must not be related with the governance of the country as Mr President is fully in charge of the government.

“Sir, your Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari is doing well. He is discharging his duty diligently, of course, those who want his office are not ghosts, they are neither PDP members, they are of the APC,” the convener said.

He called on the president to ignore those who earlier protested against some of his personal staff, saying that “if Buhari is not on the driver seat, we will not have enjoyed the N-power, the Conditional Cash Transfer, the Market money and many more,” he said.

Dowells listed some achievements recorded by the President as revival of infrastructure with massive road construction across the country.

“The anchor borrowers programme which has not only increased local production of rice, but has ended the importation of expired rice into the country.

“The implementation of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, engaging kidnapping and banditry in a fierce battle and we are winning the war with the arrest of Evans in Lagos, and multitude of kidnappers on Kaduna road and Zamfara State.

“We cannot fold our arms and allow few individuals ruin the country by blackmailing Mr President with a view to box him into a corner,” he said.