•‘Tinubu/Shettima ticket will be fair to all’
•I’ll reset economy for faster growth, says Tinubu
•President drums up support for APC candidates
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has said there is no justification for retaining the Presidency in the North in 2023.
He urged those protesting against the same faith ticket to ponder on the neglect of zoning or rotation of the president between the North and the South.
The governor said those saying that the country is not ripe for Muslim-Muslim ticket should be courageous to decry the abolition of presidential zoning in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Wike spoke yesterday at the special dedication service for the Rivers State PDP 2023 General Election Campaign Rallies, which held at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Also yesterday, All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu promised to be fair to all Nigerians, irrespective of their religious inclinations.
Wike, in a statement by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, maintained that persons involved in doublespeak were trying to hoodwink some gullible few.
He said such individuals knew that they were insulting the sensibility of well-meaning Nigerians, who desired a united country to advance national cohesion.
Wike said: “You play on people’s intelligence; you say Nigeria is not ripe for Muslim-Muslim ticket, I agree. But Nigeria is ripe for presidency to remain in one zone? I mean, just look at the insult. You blow hot and cold.”
The governor asked people condemning the Muslim-Muslim ticket to also know that Nigerians were also against the retention of the presidency in the North after President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “Most of you just sit there, you don’t ask yourselves questions. Somebody continues to sell this kind of cheap ideas. You don’t ask the person. I agree with what you are saying, but look at what we are saying here.
“Your party wants the presidency to go to the same zone where President Muhammadu Buhari is coming from. Who is cheating who?”
The Rivers governor also reminded the church of the need to participate in the voting process.
He, however, warned them against serving as cannon fodder to any political party or actor.
Wike pleaded with the church to be careful and resist those politicians, who came to mobilise them as if there was a religious war to wage.
He said: “It is not now that politics have come, you want to come and tell the church a different story for your own personal interest.”
Tinubu: I will be fair to all
Tinubu promised to be fair and just to all Nigerians, irrespective of race, religion and creed, if elected in next year’s election.
He also pledged to retool the economy for the benefit of Nigerians.
Tinubu gave the commitment in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, during a town hall meeting with Muslim leaders from the Southwest geopolitical zone.
The President-General of the League of Imams and Alfas of Yorubaland Sheikh Kewulere Bello advised Tinubu to tackle the menace of insecurity and unemployment across the country when elected.
He advised Tinubu to tackle insecurity and unemployment, if elected.
He said: “There have been kidnapping cases in the country. Please, help us to tackle it.
“Secondly, our children have gone to school, they have graduated, and most of them have no jobs. We want you to help us to provide jobs for them when you get there.
“We also want you to help us to tackle the problem of ethnic rivalries in the country. This is our third request.”
Addressing the clerics, he promised to be “a fair and just leader”, adding: “My pledge for fairness and justice is consistent with the tenets of the Islamic faith.”
He stressed: “A leader in a plural society like ours is enjoined to be a leader of all. If elected, I shall govern honestly and democratically in harmony with our nation’s constitution.”
A statement by his media aide, Tunde Rahman, in Abuja said Tinubu cited his excellent stewardship as Lagos State governor and promised to use that experience to lead Nigeria in the “same spirit of innovation and pragmatic vision to uplift the nation and renew the hope of Nigerians.”
He described the 2023 general elections as “Nigeria’s momentous encounter with destiny”, urging the clerics to educate their followers on the importance of voting only for tested candidates with track records of excellent public service, “and not falling for the lies and gimmicks of those that have nothing to offer.”
Tinubu, who spoke in English and Yoruba, said: “This election season has been a hybrid of facts and falsehood, truth and lies. I would like the election to be one based on facts and truth.
“What is a candidate’s record of performance and what are his policies? I ask you to urge your followers to come out and vote and to do so wisely. Vote for a candidate that has a vision for a peaceful, prosperous Nigeria where tolerance and compassion undergird our constitutional and legal rights.”
On security, Tinubu vowed to end terror, kidnappings and other violent crimes by recruiting more personnel that would be trained and retrained, in addition to providing more security tools and gadgets for an effective fight against criminal elements.
The nation’s economy, according to Tinubu, would be diversified and restructured towards achieving at least six per cent growth annually.
These goals, he promised, would be achieved through the reforms of the country’s industrial policy, infrastructural enhancement, power sector innovation and significant budgetary reforms.
Tinubu said: “Regarding the economy, we seek to repair the very structure of the economy. We can no longer flourish as an economy based on natural resource extraction.
“We must become a dynamic, diversified economy where those who want to work can find a good job. But let us also be a society sufficiently compassionate to help those who cannot help themselves.
“We must revive manufacturing and industrial growth to create jobs as well as produce the goods and services that improve the daily lives of the average person.
“We seek a minimum of six per cent growth annually through reform of our industrial policy, infrastructural enhancement, power sector innovation and significant budgetary reform.”
On his plan for the agricultural sector, the APC standard bearer promised to guarantee food security through enhanced productivity and improved farm incomes to ensure that no child goes to bed without food to eat.
He said: “In the end, may no Nigerian parent send a child to bed hungry, despairing about what tomorrow might bring. Instead, let all of our children, regarding of their faith or creed, be able to lay their head down believing in a better tomorrow of hope renewed.”
Tinubu commended religious leaders in the country for their continued prayers and sermons, which he noted, had contributed to unity and peaceful coexistence.
He urged Nigerians to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) and vote for him, saying a single vote in democracy can determine who wins an election.
“I’m the only one that can do it, God will help me to fulfil all my promises to Nigerians, God is our pathfinder, God will set my foot to the right path when I get there,” he assured.
He commended Northern governors who insisted that power must shift to the South, saying he didn’t believe it initially until it became a reality.
“There was commotion when I said it’s my turn. One thing is for someone to say ‘It’s my turn’, another is for God to answer the prayer. Only God enthrones. I don’t just want to get there but to render service to humanity,” he said.
Tinubu said if elected, there would be loans for traders and there would be commodity market which would serve as an avenue for selling their goods and services.
His words: “There will also be stable power supply, Nigeria started with India in terms of electricity, India has moved forward, it is not as if they are wiser than us. Our education sector will also be taken care of, there wouldn’t be any strike in the public institution if I emerge.
“Is not good not to have doctors and equipment in our hospitals. I want to assure you that if I’m elected with your votes as the president, health of Nigerians will be prioritised.”
Folarin said though he has been having interaction with Muslim leaders across the state, they should do more by supporting the APC presidential candidate.
He said: “We are not here to market Tinubu because he is a Muslim, but his track record and capacity speak for him compared with other candidates.”
Folarin also thanked northern leaders for their role in power shift to the South.
Hamzat said only the person that knows the way should be followed, saying his past achievements distinguished him from other candidates.
He said Tinubu’s achievement in Lagos is the good reason for Nigerians to vote him as president, adding that solutions to the country’s problem are already explained in Tinubu’s manifesto christened: “Renewed Hope”.
The National Chief Missioner of Anwar-ur- Deen Movement, Sheikh Ahmad Abdulrahman, said the gathering was not to campaign or endorse Tinubu or any candidate, but ask whether Asíwájú Tinubu can still deliver for the country as he did as governor of Lagos State.”
Tinubu was accompanied to the meeting by the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr Femi Hamzat, the APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Teslim Folarin, former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, Deputy Director-General of his campaign, Hadiza Bala Usman, Senator Fatai Buhari from Oyo State, former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Rauf Olaniyan; Malam Nuhu Ribadu; Akeem Adeyemi; Dr. Yunus Akintunde; son of former Governor of Oyo State, Olamiju Akala; and other APC candidates.
Muslim leaders at the meeting include Secretary-General, League of Imams and Alfas of Yorubaland, Sheikh Ahmad Aladesawe; MUSWEM pioneer Executive Secretary, Prof Dawud Noibi; the National chairman, JIBWIS, Sheikh Dr Abdullahi Bala Lau; Sheikh Abdulfatah Thani, and Alh. Mutiu Oladejo.
The APC candidate had earlier interfaced with Bishops from Pentecostal Churches in the 19 states of the North and the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria, where he delivered a similar message as he did to the Muslim leaders of Southwest.
He had told the Christian leaders that if elected, he would run an inclusive government that will be blind to ethnicity and religion, but fair and equitable to all Nigerians.
Buhari to kinsmen: vote Tinubu/Shettima, others
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the people of Katsina State, especially Dumurkol and Daura, to vote for Tinubu.
The President, who spoke at the governorship campaign of the Katsina candidate, Dikko Radda, in Dumurkol, also charged them to vote for other candidates. He said voting the party from top to bottom would be a way of appreciating the party for giving the leadership of the country to one of them for good eight years.
Represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said anyone who had defected from the party to another party should not deserve their vote because the person had left the platform that honoured both Daura and Katsina State by presenting Buhari as candidate twice and successfully.
Shehu said he had no doubt the ongoing campaign is a journey of success, adding: “I work with some people in the campaign train and they proved that they have capacity and they will never fail.
“Coming to campaign here is just to thank the people of Dumurkol because they need no lecture on whom to vote for to succeed President Buhari in 2023.”
Shehu added: “President Buhari said, ‘vote for Asiwaju and Shettima, Dikko Radda and Jobe for governor and also vote for Nasiru Sani as your senator and other legislators’.
“Vote for APC from top to bottom. Whoever comes here after decamping to another party and says he is with President Buhari, he is not with President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Every individual from Dumurkol or Daura or Katsina will market APC and anybody contesting under any other party should not be campaigned for because Nigeria has given Dumurkol, Daura and Katsina State what other states wanted to have and they never got because over 200 million Nigerians chose someone from this domain to lead the country for eight years.
“Nigerians have done everything to this community, Daura and Katsina State. So, nobody can shame him here.
“President Buhari has done everything to Daura and Katsina State. Just yesterday, we were on the road when I saw a trailer with a load of irons for railway tracks to be laid from Daura to Katsina, to Maradi and by God’s grace, by the end of this administration, train services will start from Kano to Daura.”
The District Head of Dumurkol, who is President Buhari’s nephew, Alhaji Musa Haro, assured Nigerians that the people of Daura and Katsina State will vote massively for Tinubu.
Haro also said they will vote Dr. Dikko Radda for governor, describing him as the only credibleble governorship candidate for 2023 election in the state.
“I know Dikko Radda for over 30 years when we were in Kaduna back in 1993. He is humble, honest and a very good person and he values relationships and can govern Katsina very well.
“He was a local government chairman under the late Governor Yar’Adua. He was the first chairman that constructed a road, more than 20 kilometres. He built schools, and hospitals and started women empowerment.
“Dr Dikko has the capacity. He was the Director-General of SMEDAN (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria). Look at what he did across the country; the people of Katsina State are very lucky to have such a credible person as a candidate under APC.
He is a PhD holder, a lecturer and a career banker. So, he has all the qualities. Look at what happened during the primary, about nine aspirants contested for the ticket on the platform of APC, but the people decided.
On Tinubu, Alhaji Haro said: “We don’t even need Tinubu to come to Katsina. Look at what he did in Lagos, look at his network across the country.
“When he was a governor in Lagos, he transformed the state. So, I believe it’s just a tradition, Asiwaju has to come to Katsina for campaign, but in our base here in Katsina, take it from me, Asiwaju is going to win with a high number of vote Insha Allah.”
The APC governorship candidate, Dr Radda Dikko, promised to transform the state, empower women and youth and provide infrastructure development across the state.
