Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation Smart Adeyemi has said the Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Sen Kashim Shettima’s ticket for the 2023 presidential election is not a setback for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Adeyemi said the misgivings within the party is nothing to worry about, adding that they will cruise to victory in the 2023 general elections.
This is coming ahead of the September 28 kick off of political campaigns for elective offices.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja over the weekend, Adeyemi who said the APC is ready for the campaigns added that there is no friction in the APC presently. He added that all the political bigwigs have agreed to work with the party presidential candidate, Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The party’s leadership is looking into it. It will make its position known on the thrust of the campaign. But which of these political parties has national acceptance? It’s the APC. Why is it that the APC insisted on zoning the presidency to the South? National unity. Why was it difficult for the PDP to zone the presidency to the South?
Insensitivity, it doesn’t matter to them. I want to appeal to those aggrieved in the PDP to cross over to the APC. APC is the only true national party that is available today. We all know the two dichotomies – the North and South.
“There is no crisis and for those aggrieved, the party will get to them, because there is still time to hold consultations and bring people on board.
“The election, we still have about five months ahead. Everybody wants to be part of the APC because that is the winning party, “ Adeyemi said, adding that consultations were ongoing to allay fears of those who have expressed concern over the same-faith ticket.
He noted that Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima are patriotic Nigerians who are blind to religion and ethnicity.
“If you look at Tinubu and Shettima, the two of them, have something to offer. For you to assess an individual, you first of all look at his antecedent, what people think about him, what he has said about himself, then you draw a conclusion.
“The antecedent of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to me, he has the credentials required to govern Nigeria. He succeeded in setting the governorship structure in Lagos where Christians and Muslims rotate governorship, where Igbo, Hausas hold political positions in Lagos. It’s where you see a non-Yoruba person being a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly. And this is what we need in Nigeria. We need to cement this country together. For me Asiwaju laid the foundation.
“Nigeria requires more than ever before unity, fairness, diversification of the economy, safety of lives and property. These are the things required in Nigeria today; he has paid his dues. He was in the trenches fighting for this democracy. There is no aspect of leadership that Asiwaju is lacking.
“If you look at Shettima, I have known him for 13 years now. He is a highly intelligent person, highly cerebral. I don’t see him as a religious bigot, “ Adeyemi added.
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