National chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, has said apart from God Almighty, President Buhari who is the current highest authority in Nigeria has endorsed presidential candidate of the governing party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the next president of the country and it shall come to pass.
“Except God, President Buhari is the highest authority in Nigeria today. Buhari has said it and it shall come to pass,” Adamu stated categorically.
Speaking at a town hall meeting yesterday in Lafia between the APC standard bearer and stakeholders in the mining sector, Adamu told Tinubu to get ready to assume office as the next president of Nigeria from 29 May 2023.
Noting that he was merely echoing President Buhari’s statement, Adamu who asked Tinubu to stand as well as the audience to also join him, declared the APC candidate would be the next president.
He urged voters, not only in Nasarawa, but also in the adjoining states to vote massively for the party and its candidate, even as he asked Tinubu to get ready for the task to shoulder the demands of leading Nigeria.
Adamu’s emphatic declaration worked the audience at the meeting into a frenzy of excitement amid rapturous applause that lasted for a couple of minutes in the banquet hall of the Government House in Lafia.
The magnificent banquet hall hosting the meeting was rent with the shouts of Jagaban of Nigeria from the crowd, just as Adamu prayed God to ensure victory for the party so that APC will hand over to APC next year May.
Also the host governor, Abdullahi Sule, predicted victory for Tinubu, calling him several times in his speech as ‘Nigeria’s next president’.
Sule gave a comprehensive overview of the mineral deposits in the state, including marble, lithium, barite and others.
In his response, Tinubu promised that help is on the way to industrialise the state for prosperity.
Senator Tanko Al-Makura, a former governor of the state, who also welcomed Tinubu, later presented a crafted gift to him in appreciation of being a media friendly politician.
On Tinubu’s entourage to the meeting were Governors Simon Lalong of Plateau (director general of the APC campaign council), Babagana Zulum of Borno, Aminu Masari of Katsina, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Asiwaju Is Not Going Anywhere, Atiku Fires Back
But the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, said yesterday that Tinubu would not win the 2023 presidential election.
Atiku who stated this yesterday during the inauguration of the PDP Youth Campaign Youth Council in Abuja, noted that the APC would not survive after the 2023 presidential election.
Stating that APC had dashed the hope of Nigerians in the last seven years, he said no one should expect any change in the next five to six months.
The former vice president also described the APC as an alliance between the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) and what he called Tinubu’s party, adding such alliances are wont to dissolve overnight as history shows.
Atiku stated: “To be honest PDP is the only political party, APC is not a political party, it is an alliance between the CPC and Tinubu’s party, and we have seen how alliances in this country has disappeared over night, I don’t think APC would survive after this election, we are going to vote them out and by the time we vote them out, they will be dead.
He charged the youths to work for PDP, claiming that PDP is the only viable political party in Nigeria.
Speaking also the deputy national chairman, North, Amb Umar Damagum, said the party had given youths the opportunity to take their destiny into their hands.
Similarly, director, Strategic Communications of the PDP the National Campaign Management Committee (NCMC), Bashorun Dele Momodu, decried the attack against PDP members during their campaign in Maiduguri, Borno State.
He said the attacks against Atiku, as was also witnessed in Kaduna State, mean that the other parties can see that Atiku is the leading candidate and he’s going to win the next election.
Don’t Take Opposition For Granted, Ribadu Warns APC
Meanwhile, director of the Directorate of Stakeholder Relations of the APC presidential Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has warned that opposition parties and their candidates should not be taken for granted.
He however declared that the APC standard bearer, Tinubu, would sweep the presidential election with a landslide margin in the forthcoming general elections.
Speaking yesterday during the inauguration of the 132-member directorate of stakeholder relations, Ribadu who was presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 20211 said Tinubu is far better than any of the presidential candidates of the opposition political parties.
The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said, “Luckily for us, our job is cut out for us. We have the most saleable product in the market today. There is no one candidate out there that is better than our own.
On his part, founding national chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, who inaugurated the directorate expressed satisfaction with the performance of the APC-led administration since May 29, 2015.
Akande said Tinubu had the wherewithal to administer the country irrespective of its diverse and heterogeneous nature.
‘Gringori’ (Obi) Can’t Offer Anything But Dubious Statistics – Shetimma
Meanwhile, the vice presidential candidate of the APC, Kashim Shetimma, has said Peter Obi, the presidential standard bearer of the Labour Party, has absolutely nothing to offer apart from dubious statistics.
This is contrary to the position of the director, Special Media Projects and New Media, of APC presidential campaign council, Femi Fani-Kayode, who had earlier in the week said Obi had far more to offer than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Fani-Kayode had in a statement on Sunday in response to Atiku said, “Even Peter Obi has far more to offer than him(Atiku).”
But Shetimma who pronounced Obi’s middle name, Gregory, as Gringori, the nickname of late James Iroha of the New Masquerade, the rested NTA comedy programme, said the Labour Party presidential candidate has nothing to offer, as only Bola Tinubu of the APC has the capacity and track records to be Nigeria’s president in 2023.
Shetimma spoke in Abuja at a one-day symposium titled, ‘Dissecting the Asiwaju Manifesto, Renewed Hope 2023’, organised by APC professionals.
He stated: “I always said we are not in the journey for the Olympics but an institution that thrives on the superiority of ideas and track records, and who has better track records than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
“What are the options available? Peter Gringori Obi is my friend but Gringori has absolutely nothing to offer apart from dubious statistics. So, the choice before us, there is a difference between daylight and darkness,” he said.
The former Borno governor urged Nigerians to expect tough times ahead, adding that 2023 will be a watershed election in the history of the country, and therefore purpose-driven leadership is very crucial to confront the challenges.
In her remarks, Aisha Buhari, the wife of President, said the issue of national security would remain the hottest topic for debate in the 2023 presidential election and the expectations of Nigerians are even higher now.
She said the current administration was able to reclaim territories hitherto occupied by the insurgents in the North East, thereby paving the way for locals to return to their communities to rebuild their lives.
Represented by Asabe Bashir, the director general, National Centre for Women development, Abuja, the first lady said the incoming administration would be expected to continue from the gains of the current administration.
On Tinubu’s economic blueprint for national prosperity, Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor of Lagos, said the APC presidential candidate had a vision of an economic miracle that would usher in prosperity, wealth creation, and jobs for all.
Pedro said his former boss plans to achieve double-digit economic growth by boosting the country’s GDP to over US$533 billion by end of 2023 and tame inflation to single-digit, adding that “the World Bank projects 3% but Tinubu envisages 10% by end of next year.”
