Angry reactions have continued to trail the statement of President Muhammadu Buhari that he has forgiven Nigerians who offended him and those whom he may have offended should also forgive him.

While the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) said the only way Nigerians could forgive him is if he corrected the wrongs done by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and former commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Niger State, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, asked him to seek forgiveness from God and not Nigerians.

According to the National President of MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, “it is not bad for anyone who has made a mistake to apologise and to seek forgiveness. He has realised that he did not do all he was supposed to do as president and he is begging Nigerians to forgive him.

“However, the issue is that anyone can come tomorrow, do the same thing and ask for forgiveness and this doesn’t solve our problems. If he wants us to forgive him, let him right the wrongs done by INEC so that we can have the right people in office and have the kind of Nigeria that we are looking for. He should not hand over to crooks but let him ensure that the right person comes into office.

“The nonsense that INEC has done should be reversed, the truth has to be established and there should not be any interference that would make the Supreme Court twist the constitution and twist justice in favour of the highest bidder. If he does that, Nigerians would hail him as the greatest leader.

“Nigerians would only forgive him if he does the right thing. Let him not hand over to Nigeria, problems that would put them in a deeper hole. The presidential election was not conducted properly, he is the one who appointed the INEC chairman, so he should stand his ground and ensure that the right thing is done,” Pogu said.

Reacting, elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai, said all Nigerians wanted was for Buhari to go so that the myriads of problems facing the country could be addressed.

“He has completed his tenure, so he should just go so that we can confront the problems facing us as a nation,” Yakassai said.

But Vatsa said for the president to publicly come out to ask for forgiveness showed the blood of innocent Nigerians, including women and children killed and spilled across the country by killer herdsmen were hunting him.

The former publicity secretary of the APC in Niger State, told newsmen in Minna, that apart from the president’s negative policies that have sent millions of Nigerians to employment market, early graves and permanent poverty, the eight years of Buhari’s administration were the worst in the country’s history.

Vatsa said there was no way the millions of traumatised Nigerians could forgive Buhari.

He claimed President Buhari did not come to power with god intentions for the majority of citizens, but with a different agenda, saying “unfortunately he met a very sophisticated Nigeria and it was difficult to implement his agenda.”

Vatsa who flayed the president’s poor handling of security challenges in the last eight years wondered which category of Nigerians he imagined would forgive him.

“Is it the women whose husbands have been killed by armed bandits or men that their wives were raped and in some cases killed by bandits, or children that have been turned to orphans because his government failed to discharge its primary responsibility of protecting innocent Nigerians, or is it parents of female students and married women that have been abducted by bandits, raped and impregnated, given birth and sent back to their parents because his government failed to protect them?

“When you stayed in the villa and enjoyed the protection of security as the Nigerian president and gave out your daughters hands in marriage both in Abuja and in Kano at a luxury wedding, the daughters of poor and innocent Nigerians were being raped by bandits in the jungle, some of them came back with unwanted pregnancies and babies, some of them did not have the luxury of giving their daughters hands in marriage even if it was in a low-key ceremony…Your last project of currency re-design, up till now I don’t know if we made gain or loss, but I know common Nigerians suffered dearly for it, and are still suffering, some even died…

“When he was a military officer, he fought the civil war to keep Nigeria one, when he became civilian president he divided Nigeria along ethnic lines, he was only concerned with his brothers and nephews in Niger Republic and even took a rail line to them.”

Vatsa said in years to come, Nigerians would continue to remember the pains, agony and sorrow the Buhari’s administration inflicted on them, saying, “we struggled to bring this government to power in 2015 but we never knew that things will turn out to be like this, where Nigerians cannot travel freely and even sleep with their two eyes closed. Before he leaves, rather than seeking forgiveness from Nigerians, he should equally give us a rail line from Minna to Abuja, Abuja to Lokoja, and Abuja to Makurdi- Port Harcourt and Jos to Maiduguri.”

He added that if the president was really seeking forgiveness from Nigerians, he should refund all the money collected by bandits from innocent Nigerians and compensate them especially the doctor that died from the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.

“It is easy to say forgive me but whether Nigerians can forgive you is another matter and I think that will not happen because Nigerians are in pain. I forsee you being the first president in Nigeria to be taken to international criminal court. Be ready in case it happens.” (Text, excluding headline: Daily Sun)

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