Hehehehe......Govs, Atiku rally support for Buhari on Twitter...See the governors

2015 go hot sha.....Some digital media-savvy governors have begun mobilising support for the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj.-Gen Mohammadu Buhari (retd.), on the micro-blogging service, Twitter.

Buhari on Monday had signed up for the social network, garnering more than 14,000 followers in six hours; a record which surpassed the feat recorded by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, when he joined Twitter on December 31, 2013.

Among the governors who have since welcomed Buhari’s presence on Twitter are Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and his Osun State counterpart, Rauf Aregbesola.

Other prominent politicians, who have endorsed Buhari on the social network include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; APC presidential aspirant, Sam Nda-Isaiah; and a former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

Hailing Buhari’s decision to embrace the social media, Fashola, in a terse message posted on his official Twitter page, described the ex-general as “the leader for this moment”.

Aregbesola also urged the Nigerian Twitter community to take advantage of Buhari’s presence online to “take action for change.”

“As we welcome Buhari to Twitter, let us continue to organise ourselves for the change we seek,” the Osun State Governor added.

The former head of state said his endorsement by leading politicians on the micro-blogging service had been inspiring.

“Thank you. You inspire leaders across the world. I am honoured to have your enthusiastic support. Things must change,” Buhari, who took his first selfie on Tuesday wrote in a tweet to Fashola.

Also, the Director, Media and Communications, Buhari Campaign Organisation, Dele Alake, has registered his presence online.

The former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy stated that he would make use of the online platform to propagate the ideals of the APC standard-bearer while focusing on issues affecting the generality of Nigerians.

“Our responsibility is to demonstrate that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has the personal virtues of discipline, honesty and transparency to inspire the change that is imminent. We need all hands on deck to extricate Nigeria from the abyss,” Alake tweeted.

But the Presidency has described as a deceit the campaign promises of the APC presidential candidate.

Buhari’s running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, had said, “Gen. Muhammadu Buhari wiped off Maitatsine, another Islamic insurgency during his administration, by sincerely identifying the problem as a challenge to the authority of the state to maintain law and order.”

However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, stated that the pledge by Buhari and his supporters to end promptly the menace posed Boko Haram was mere propaganda.

“It is not true that Buhari ended the Maitasine riots. He did not defeat or chase away any Maitasine group. The leader of that sect was killed during (Shehu) Shagari’s administration,” Okupe argued on Twitter.

The presidential aide alleged that the APC candidate had “very few achievements in and out of office,” adding that there was no need for him and his campaign team to “lie copiously” to shore up his accomplishments as military head of state.

Describing Buhari’s campaign volunteers as “foolish Galatians,” Okupe added that the majority of them would regret declaring support for him in February 2015.

“2015 is about the destiny of Nigeria. It is about choice between moving forward and retrogression; leadership with vision and that with opacity of ideas; choice between liberalism and bigotry; free worship and fundamentalism; patriotic nationalism and ethnic jingoism; transparency and deception; good and evil.

“They (APC members) are not as strong as the Philistines. These are just foolish Galatians,” he added while boasting of victory for President Goodluck Jonathan.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission has explained that the supplementary voter register, which it deployed during the 2011 general elections, will not be in use in 2015.

The electoral body stated that due to “susceptibility to abuse” it resolved to phase out the supplementary voter register while introducing the continuous voter registration with a view to getting eligible Nigerians to secure their permanent voter cards.

“If you are in a state where CVR (continuous voter registration) is over, you will not be able to register at this time. If your name is not on the electronic register, your (permanent voter) card will not be printed,” INEC added on Twitter.