28th July, 2015
Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Tuesday asked Nigerians to give President Muhammadu Buhari 100 days honeymoon in office before starting to evaluate the performance of his administration.
The former Lagos State Governor who paid President Buhari a visit at Aso Rock Presidential Villa said the “Change” promised by APC will not be achieved by magic but through examination, re-jigging and re-evaluations of the situation of the country which will take some time to avoid making the mistakes of the past.
“It is an international norm all over the world; there is a honeymoon period, at least minimum of 100 days honeymoon.
“Or you won’t allow honeymoon at all? You said change is not coming. Change is not by magic, it is driven by the people, the spirit and the character and the planning,” Tinubu said.
The former governor also noted that there was a difference between a campaign period during which politicians articulate their visions, expressed promises and a time to look holistically at what has been inherited, analyse it, distill and then take action after the election.
“You see, we have had so much problem in this country in the past because we ran into policy blind folded without adequate and effective planning. You don’t have results unless you plan well.
“The time it takes you to plan, examine, rejig, re-evaluate is more important than the time you just rush into taking action because you are either being sentimental, being emotional and being driven by other forces that are not expected. There must be time to plan, to review and even listen to people.”
“Even in 100 meters race, there is a time to say on your mark, set, ready, go.
“So you don’t even want a time to be on your mark, set and go?,” queried the former Governor.
Tinubu also disagreed that the President’s meeting with APC member of House of Representatives on Monday was deadlocked as reported by the media.
According to him, the President’s intervention was a political process that needed to develop its own life to be worked upon so as to stabilize and continue to serve the interest of the populace.
“As a matter of fact, when the National Assembly starts the job of lawmaking in earnest, the president needs to step in once in a while as he did to let people understand the impact of the expectations of the public and particularly of the international community on various programmes and institutions,” Tinubu said, adding that, there is need for the country to build and make institutions effective and virile.
He also said there is nothing wrong with the President intervening in the crisis of leadership of the House of Representatives.
“To step in to douse any conflict is not a wrong thing; or do you think it is wrong?” Tinubu quizzed.