Senate President and 2023 presidential aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Lawan has said that there is no denying the fact that the President Muhammadu led administration has recorded low successes in many areas.
Lawan however, promised to intensify efforts on those areas, particularly, on uniting the country while tackling of terrorism and other forms of criminalities if elected president in 2023.
The Senate President made the remark on Thursday while addressing delegates in Katsina State ahead of the forthcoming APC primaries to elect its candidate for the 2023 general elections.
According to Lawan, “this administration is our administration, it is the administration of the APC. From 2015 to date, we have recorded successes in some areas, we have half successes in some areas and we have low or very low successes in many areas.
“My administration by the special grace of God when we get there, will ensure that we reinforce on those areas that we have succeeded fully under this administration and also cover those areas that we have achieved half successes, as well as areas we have not succeeded properly at We, have to rework those kinds of areas and redirect our efforts and ensure that the necessary resources are put in place to secure Nigeria.”
The Senate President who described the Katsina meeting with delegates as his first outing since he declared in the presidential race, however lauded the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for taking the right decision and steps by giving more resources to security agencies to decimate and secure the Northeast from the afflictions of the Boko Haram, arguing that the zone was safer than it was in 2015 and 2019.
Lawan expressed optimism that if he becomes president, he will continue to work assiduously to end the menace of insecurity in Northwestern Nigeria and other parts of the country, noting that Nigerians must be united to win the fight against the hoodlums.
“For me, I am an optimist believing that the cup is half full rather than half empty. We have done a lot in terms of providing resources for security agencies to fight banditry and other insecurity issues but we have not achieved the kind of results that we want to achieve and we are not tired and will never be tired. We will continue to fight, provide more resources and continue to hold our security agencies responsible for as long as the insecurity persists.
We must not waver and we must never show any sign of weakness or tiredness and by the grace of God, we will conquer the insecurity that afflicts us.”
On his chances in the 2023 presidential race, Lawan said he was banking on his 23 years experience at the National Assembly to become the next president of Nigeria, having been elected into the hallowed chamber since 1999.
“It will be 23 years on the 4th of June this year that I have been in the National Assembly. My experiences, I believe, are adequate because I have worked with people like Governor Masari and today, I’m working with our President, President Muhammadu Buhari who is leading the APC administration.
“For me, this is an experience that I cherish, this is an experience that makes me think that I have the capacity, the ability, the training, the audacity and the courage to lead the affairs of this country”, he said