Next President may fail like Jonathan, Buhari, Prof Ibrahim says, tells why

Jibrin Ibrahim, a political science professor and member of the Centre for Democracy and Development’s Governing Board, claims that the next leader of Nigeria is likely to fail, just like former leader Goodluck Jonathan and current leader Muhammadu Buhari.

Ibrahim said while the presidential candidates have unveiled well-articulated and detailed manifestos on their programmes if elected, they have failed to explain their methodology for achieving them at the 20th Media Trust Dialogue with the theme, “Interrogating the 2023 presidential agenda,” on Thursday in Abuja.

The don also claimed that those manifestos were drafted by extremely intelligent individuals who would not serve in their government, not by them with input from party leaders and members.

Ibrahim said, “The manifestos for these elections are of extremely high quality, the analysis of the economy and society is very thorough, the propositions are very good, and the three key issues being addressed are issues that have been with us since the Jonathan administration.

“Addressing insecurity in the land, combating corruption in public service, and diversifying the economy, all the manifestos are focused on these three issues.

“But that really is not the point. Which of these parties has a rare vision? I happened to know how these manifestos are written. Jonathan came into power, promised a lot of fresh air, but failed totally. President Buhari came to power with these same issues, promised a rare change this time, and we are worst than when he came to power.

“The public service in this country is very dysfunctional; it is corrupt and the structure of its operations is to deepen corruption. None of these manifestos speak on how to address issues in the public service to deliver the promises they make.

“We know the leading members of political parties are there for political patronage; they are there to make money. So if you are going into government with who have their eyes on looting the public treasury, then it is not convincing for instance, that you will combat corruption.

“What is the integrity factor among some of the leading candidates? Our task as citizens is to learn from their promises, investigate and get our findings and take decisions that will guide our choice.”