Text of a speech by President Muhammadu Buhari at the flag off of the Tinubu-Shettima presidential campaign rally in Jos, Plateau State …yesterday
Fellow progressives, I am honored to join you the members of our great and progressive party, the APC, in the historic city of Jos on the fertile and beautiful Plateau as we formally flag off our 2023 Presidential Campaign to elect the Tinubu/Shettima ticket.
To our host, the governor of Plateau State Simon Lalong and the DG of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) we thank you for the excellent work that you are doing and for hosting this important event.
Nearly 30 years ago, in this very city, this very stadium the progressive party of that day gathered to select a presidential candidate for their party, the then SDP. Many present here today participated in that event.
That we gathered here today in Jos is not by accident. We honor the tradition and history of the progressive cause in Nigeria by being here today. But we do even greater honor to that cause and to the welfare of the nation by working in unity and by working hard so that the APC records victory in February.
Today, we launch this presidential campaign to move Nigeria forward, We are confident in the quality and quantity of the work we have done to advance and promote the national purpose during the past seven and a half years.
We have given primacy to agriculture and the farmer, by establishing policies that promote food security and rural development. Our infrastructural programme has been unprecedented. We have been unrelenting against terrorism, pushing them further and further back.
I can say we have truly set a firm and durable foundation for future progress and growth that will endure well beyond our administration, setting the tone for years and decades to come.
Every good foundation deserves a good building on top of it. Whether it is a home for a family or the governance and policy structure of a nation.
Our nation now faces a pivotal decision. Whether it wants to complete the building of that good and decent home by voting for Asiwaju Tinubu and Senator Shettima. Or does the nation want to forfeit its chance to attain its better self by squandering its votes on the likes of the PDP and others who have no good ideas on intentions of our precious nation and her people.
We as the APC truly represent the best hope for democratic good governance in the land. The PDP and other parties spoke of being the ruling party and have once boasted of retaining power for 60 years.
We the APC speak in terms of governance , progress and service to the electorate. For in this all important journey, it is the will of the people that is sovereign and abiding.
We serve at their will and as a party we are dedicated to serve for their collective well being.
Thus, today’s flag off of our Presidential campaign in Jos signals our determination to move Nigeria further along the path of progressive governance and vitality, to continue that good and sturdy national home in which all Nigerians can reside and be proud.
At the launching of the Tinubu/Shettima Action Plan, I promised to lead the APC Presidential campaign side by side with Asiwaju Tinubu.
My presence with you affirms my commitment to not only lead the campaign but to do all I can to ensure victory. For much is at stake. I talk not just of victory for the party, but victory for the nation. We must keep the reins of governance out of the hands of those who care little and know nothing except to exploit our nation’s endowments for their own narrow aims and selfish designs.
We have come too far to relinquish our destiny to those who do not hold our national purpose and collective welfare as their highest priorities.
From door to door, city to city, from state to state, across the country we will campaign together. We will mobilise Nigerians so that they maintain in the right direction and vote for the right candidate, party and cause.
Our party has a progressive ideology based on a commitment to the people. It is important to remind ourselves of the unprecedented support our party has received from Nigerians from every walk of life and from every portion of the country.
With the massive support of millions of well-meaning Nigerians, the cause of progressive good governance defeated the stranglehold the PDP tried to place on the nation.
That party had fallen so low that it substituted greed and endless ambition for state policy.
The bad things they have done, We have mostly swept away.
But more needs to done. We need to vote the right team into office so that Nigeria can further advance in shared prosperity, peace and fraternal cooperation.
I call on all APC members nationwide to know this and tell the APC story with boldness and clarity. The facts bear us out. We redirected state policies toward revamping our critical infrastructure. We were not shy of taking bold steps in the face of a troubled global economy. We, therefore, are proud of the ingenuity of this administration for achieving much given the global economic conditions.
The expansion of infrastructure such as roads, airports, seaports, and railways now bolster our economic stability, and improved the standard of living for our people.
The people of the northeast who were once under intense and nearly daily attack of Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists feel a difference now. Insecurity in other parts of the country is being aggressively addressed by the security forces.