Displaying items by tag: 2023 presidential race

A group identified as the Arewa Youths Progressive Alliance has told the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso to stop misrepresenting the north.

The group in a statement on Thursday in Kaduna State through its spokesman, Alhaji Sambo Galadima said the position of Kwankwaso on who the northern region will vote for in 2023 is a personal opinion and does not represent the views of the region as a collective body.

He pointed out that whatever affects Nigeria also affects the north, arguing that the northerners want what is best for the country and won’t vote along ethnic or religious lines in 2023 to choose the next President of the country.

The statement which is a reaction to Kwankwaso’s statement during his recent interview on Channels TV said many northerners have been killed by bandits and other criminals while the fear of the unknown has made many farmers abandon their farms.

The group said the northern region is as concerned about who emerges as the next president of Nigeria as other regions in the country because of the need to correct the wrongs currently being witnessed in the country.

To this end, it warned Kwankwaso to stop painting the region as a “anti-progress nor xenophobic against other Nigerians” pointing out that making Nigeria better is a collective responsibility of all citizens and it is important that whoever emerges President in 2023 be the choice of the people and not a regional leader.

“Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s utterances portray the North as retrogressive and the average northern voter as insensitive and unconcerned about the sufferings of Nigerians and the high rate of insecurity and economic woes bedevilling Nigeria, and rather concerned about having ‘fellow northerner and fellow Muslim’ perpetuate themselves in power.

“Nothing can be farther from the truth. The northerner experiences the same level of frustration with the state of governance in the country that the average Nigerian from any part of Nigeria experiences and wishes like every Nigerian that things improve for the better and that the most capable and most prepared individuals take charge of governance at different levels, including the presidency of the country, for the betterment of Nigeria,” he said.

He argued further that northerners are fully able to make decisions on their political future and don’t need to be told what to do by anybody.

Making reference to President Muhammadu Buhari who is a northern Muslim, Galadima said the region has not been spared from the troubles bedevilling the country because of the religious or ethnic inclination of the incumbent President.

“Has the North fared any better in infrastructure or living standards merely because a Northerner or a Muslim is the President of the country?

“The former governor of Kano State insults the North by portraying us as some insensitive group of people without the capacity to think for ourselves. This is not true. He sends the impression out there that our votes are owned by some elites and that it is these elites who will decide how we will vote in every election.

“If that was true in the past, that is set to change, because we are not slaves. We are capable of dreaming and holding strongly to our dreams. We are capable of working for and participating actively in political activities, independently and with the aim of bringing about the kind of government that shall serve the best interest of the average Nigerian.

“In the last seven years, more than 100,000 Northerners have been killed by bandits and terrorists, and thousands of our daughters, wives, mothers and sisters have either been raped, abducted or forcefully married out.

“Our farms are lying fallow and our harvests haven’t been poorer. Yet, a Northerner is the President. We voted for this Northerner, not because he is a Northerner, but because we believed he had the best of intentions and had the capacity to turn things around for good, for the benefit of all Nigerians. But, we are disappointed,” he added.

Galadima assured that the North is ready to work with other regions in the county to ensure Nigeria is better.

“We want to assure fellow Nigerians that Northern Nigeria is not some kind of slave colony where some elites drag us by the neck to vote on the basis of sectionalism or religion. We shall vote for the best candidates who hold the best promise to recharge Nigeria and get her working again, because, like every responsible citizen, we want the best interest of our country and we want a brighter future for our children,” he stated.

[NAIJANEWS]

Ahead of next week’s presidential convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, The Progressive Project TPP – an umbrella organization of all pro-Yemi Osinbajo support groups, has dismissed speculations that the vice president was considering stepping down for a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The group noted that as the APC prepares for its presidential primaries, paid agents and loyalists of some aspirants have intensified the spread of falsehoods against the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Director of Operations at The Progressive Project TPP, Alhaji Usman Aliyu Usman noted on Sunday that “some paid agents and other supporters who feel threatened by the candidature of Professor Osinbajo seem determined for a gutter fight which Osinbajo supporters cannot join”.

Part of the statement reads; “One of our visible supporters, Professor Olusola Adeyeye, a two-term Senator who represented Osun Central Senatorial District between 2011 to 2019 made some weighty statements about the APC presidential primaries on Saturday and by Sunday, really baseless and mischievous anti-Osinbajo statements began circulating. 

“Unfortunately, one of these came from Mr. Daniel Bwala, an aide to Deputy Senate President, Senator Omo-Agege who currently appears to moonlight as spokesman for the Bola Tinubu campaign.

“Specifically, without any proof, Mr. Bwala started circulating a video clip with claims that Professor Yemi Osinbajo is ‘allegedly planning to step down for Asiwaju’; Mr. Bwala had no evidence and he ought to know better than going to town with such.” 

“Without doubt, Professor Yemi Osinbajo is still riding high in the race and our decision not to interfere in some camps’ deliberate spread of illusion and untruths is only motivated by our genuine confidence in our candidate’s prospects.

“As stated long ago, no group linked to TPP will join any individual or group in playing gutter politics or smearing others but we need to unequivocally state that Professor Yemi Osinbajo is not contemplating any measure of capitulation to any candidate. 

“While we are sworn to total allegiance to the Constitution, patriotic values and the spirit of good sportsmanship, we denounce the misleading information and unbecoming tricks that some supporters in other presidential candidates’ camps embrace so eagerly.

“We denounce too, the baseless ad unhelpful information being randomly disseminated by the likes of Mr. Bwala.

“In the interest of the nation and its democracy, TPP appeals to all aspirants and supporters at all levels to learn from the focused and principled campaign methods of Professor Osinbajo and his supporters whose collective determination towards actualizing Nigeria’s enduring greatness is a cause that genuinely deserves the support of all patriots.

“We categorically debunk the spate of falsehoods against PYO’s candidature and we urge all Nigerian patriots to look forward to join us in the forthcoming celebrations on the day after APC presidential primaries,’ the TPP official stated.

Meanwhile, the Tinubu Support Group TSG has appealed to delegates to consider the future of the nation and elect the former Lagos governor as presidential candidate of the party.

Head, Media and Publicity of the TSG, Tosin Adeyanju in an open letter to delegates said “it is an incontrovertible fact that Asiwaju Tinubu has the mental capacity, the political sagacity and the economic ingenuity required to steer the Nigerian ship to the promised land”.

“Patrick Henry famously declared that ‘I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past’. It is with the declaration of Patrick Henry in mind that I am writing to you all on why the choice of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the answer to a new Nigeria we have long desired. My letter to you all is to seek your vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in this forthcoming convention.

“Hence, I am appealing to all you, our dear party delegates to vote for Alhaji Ahmed Tinubu as the party presidential candidate. The future of this country and that of our children has made Asiwaju the right choice for a time like this when our country needs a tested turnaround.

“As a pro-democracy leader from the NADECO days, Senator in the third republic, two-time Governor of Lagos State and founding member of APC, Asiwaju is the most experienced and most qualified to be the next President of Nigeria”, he stated.

In a related development, the APC Professionals Forum has taken its quest for professionals and technocrats in the party to be given more roles to the leadership of the party.

A delegation led by the acting Chairman of its Board of Trustees, Dr Nkem Okeke which met the National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, was emphatic that the party has an untapped pool of professionals that could easily add value to the party’s operations at all levels.

He said: “The narrative has to change to include this untapped pool of party members who have shown more than a passing interest in politics and governance in country.

“We have quite a number, not only in our midst but also within the rank and file, that are prepared for responsibilities so we crave the indulgence of the National Working Committee (NWC) to also look in the direction of professionals who are registered APC members.

“As a registered think-tank in the party, it falls within our mandate to contribute our quota to strengthening APC. We have therefore being holding consultations with registered professionals bodies in order to woo interested professionals into the party as well as to synergize with them in order to enhance professionalism in governance.

“And while the party is in the midst of electing candidates that will fly our flag in the various elections in 2023, we are hoping to organize conferences, retreats and symposia in partnership with the new APC leadership as part of preparations for the next general elections.”

Responding, Senator Omisore welcomed the idea behind the formation of APC Professionals Forum and promised to support its initiatives.

“We are prepared to work with you and have no problem including professionals in the activities of the party ahead of the next election,” he said.

The delegation which also included the National Coordinator of the forum, Hon. Akeem Akintayo also met the Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Abubakar Kyari, National Vice Chairman (South), Victor Giadom as well as National Organizing Secretary, Alhaji Sulaiman Argungu and his deputy, Nze Chidi Duru.

A frontline presidential hopeful on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, has promised to replicate all the developmental strides he made in Lagos while he was the governor of the state in Nigeria, if elected the president in the 2023 general elections.

Tinubu, who is the National Leader of the APC, made the pledge in Benin City on Saturday evening at the Oba of Benin’s palace when he paid the Benin monarch homage as part of his consultation visit to party delegates in Edo State ahead of the presidential primary of the party later this month.

The APC presidential hopeful, who said he was at the palace to seek the Oba’s endorsement and prayers for his presidential ambition, said Lagos State was in bad shape when he became governor of the state, but he turned around the fortunes of the state and made it a mega city before he left.

“Your Royal Majesty, I am here this evening to seek your endorsement; I am here this evening to seek your prayers and blessings because I know what your endorsement means, I know what your prayers means. Your Royal Majesty, I want to be president of this country and I am not joking.

“Your Royal Majesty, I am very competent when it comes to competence. My experience in various leadership capacity gives me an edge.

“Your Royal Majesty, when I became governor of Lagos State, the state was nothing to write home about, but as of today, Lagos is a mega city. When I became governor of the state, Lagos was generating internally N600m monthly, but as of today, Lagos is proud of generating N50bn monthly. These are all the things I put in place to make Lagos great”, Tinubu boasted.

While noting that he worked very hard and supported President Muhammadu Buhari to become president of Nigeria in 2015, Tinubu solicited for all and sundry support for his ambition.

In his response, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, said the Benin throne is non-partisan, but just interested in good leadership for the country and prays for such.

“We are praying for you. And if you are eventually given the ticket and become president of the country, do the things that will make you sit at the right hand of God. And do not forget those that prayed for you.”

Tinubu later left the Oba’s Palace at about 7.02pm to meet with the APC delegates at a hotel in Benin City.

...,warns against gang-up

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, said any attempt to deny the South-East the presidency in 2023 is a gang-up against the region dominated by Igbo.

Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, in a chat with Sunday Vanguard, said those opposed to Igbo President are discriminatory against the region.

The statement was interpreted in many politically informed circles to mean that the group may not back a Yoruba aspirant for the nation’s highest office in 2023. 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and All Progressives Congress  (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are believed to be main contenders in the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari from the South-West while Senator Pius Anyim and Governor Dave Umahi among others from the South-East and also eyeing Aso Rock Villa..

Whereas Tinubu has publicly declared his ambition, Osinbajo is said to be considering running against his mentor who was single handedly responsible for his nomination to run as deputy to Buhari first in 2015 and later in 2019.

Adebanjo said: “If there is anything like power shift in Nigeria, it should go to the South-East. There is doubt about that, any other thing is just gang-up.

“There should not be any argument about that because the South-West has gotten it, the North has gotten, South-South has gotten it. You want the Igbo to remain in Nigeria but you want to discriminate against them. 

“There should be no argument about where power should shift to, it should go to the South-East. Any other thing is gang-up.”

[VANGUARD]