Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, pledged yesterday that he is ready to serve Nigeria with all his heart and strength if he eventually emerges president in the forthcoming general election.
Tinubu who continued his nationwide campaign rally in Kano urged the people of the state to vote for him in the presidential poll billed to hold next month.
Speaking at the Sani Abacha Stadium during the APC North West presidential campaign in Kano, the former Lagos governor said what he saw in terms of crowds in Kano is highly unprecedented.
“I am only here in Kano to dance and I will give peace and harmony and I will serve Nigeria,” Tinubu stated, saying he has no words to thank the governors of the region, especially Ganduje who is the host governor.
Tinubu who arrived in Kano on Monday night had met with Muslim leaders from the North-West in a town hall meeting on Tuesday.
A mammoth crowd of supporters yesterday thronged the Sani Abacha Stadium, filling the venue of the rally to the brim, with more crowd outside than inside.
It took the APC presidential candidate and his campaign train over two hours to access the stadium.
He reiterated that he has what it takes to continue the developmental strides started by President Muhammadu Buhari “after the 16 inglorious years of the Peoples Democratic Party in power”.
Tinubu said all he wanted to do was just dance, and while dancing to Hausa music, he thanked the people, saying in Hausa, “Mungode, mungode, mungode.”
‘Wike Was Right, Atiku Lacks Integrity’
Tinubu accused the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of not having anything to offer after being part of the PDP administration that plundered Nigeria’s wealth as vice president.
According to the APC flagbearer, River State governor, Nyesom Wike, was right after all when he declared that Atiku had no integrity.
He accused Atiku of establishing a university too expensive for Nigerians to attend while in office as Vice President.
The APC candidate told the people of Kano not to be deceived by allowing the PDP return to power under any guise as, according to him, it would be a return to maladministration in all areas.
Tinubu said he has continued to refute the lies concerning his health by his continuous participation in the campaigns, the most rigorous of all the political parties.
He stated: “We can make Nigeria better, safer, and more prosperous. We can educate our youth, feed our people and put an end to fear. We can do these things. We can move you forward.
“But the others cannot. They want to hold you back so that only they can move forward. They offer nothing but fake promises and easy answers that hold no water. All they can show you is how to hate your fellow Nigerian and reject your neighbour.
“But they cannot show you how to protect our society, feed our people, provide jobs and care for those in true need of help.
“Let me say this clearly and plainly. This campaign is about our collective march to a better Nigeria. Do we march forward? Or do we lose sight of the road?
“We must march forward. But we cannot forget how they frittered away our Commonwealth. For 16 years they toyed with our lives and the future of this country. They spent $16 billion on electricity, but they procured darkness instead. They didn’t remember the pipelines and processing facilities to give us electricity. They shared the electricity generation money among themselves and their cronies.
“Neither he nor his party can keep their promise. Tell me how they will keep their promise to the nation. No wonder, their party is in tatters! Governor Wike was right when he talked about a lack of integrity, saying “look at the man and his history.”
“Their contribution to institutional-building is to create an electoral commission to rig elections, not to conduct transparent polls, and to establish EFCC to witch-hunt political opponents, not to fight corruption.
“PDP and its candidate do not have your interests at heart. They do not mean well for you; they do not mean well for the country. They mouthed the Green Revolution, but their regime only worked to increase food importation bills for their 16 years. What they understand is ‘consumption economy’ not ‘production-based economy’.”
Tinubu further listed some of President Buhari’s achievements in his eight years to include the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme particularly in rice production, the Lagos-Ibadan highway which the PDP failed to fix and the Second Niger Bridge which has just been opened among many other infrastructure projects.
He said if elected, he would rework the public finance system to unlock the avenues for more revenues for the country just like he did in Lagos as governor.
Speaking specifically about Kano, Tinubu promised to consolidate the gains recorded in the agriculture sector.
He also promised to hasten the Kano – Lagos rail line for easy movement of goods and services, while the Kano-Maiduguri and Kano-Kaduna-Abuja roads will be improved.
On his part Governor Ganduje described Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the next Nigerian President Allah’s willing.
He said Tinubu has the intellectual capacity to bail the Country from the myriad of Socio economic problems round her neck.
“Tinubu is a professional Accountant with all the know-how to turn around the nation’s ailing economy and reposition the educational sector, improving on health and agricultural development,” he noted.
Ganduje said they are voting for Tinubu after careful deliberations and resolve to consider three variables in planning to win the forthcoming election.
According to the governor, some of the variables include his credibility, and capacity to lead the nation,” adding that the APC candidate has been tested and trusted when he served as the Lagos state governor and he is fast making it now and would surely be making it in the near future.”
On his part the chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, thanked Ganduje for the warm reception on behalf of the APC governors.
Bagudu described the crowd that came to welcome the APC presidential candidate as something that brightens the heart.
“What we saw in Kano is typical of what happened in 2015, 2019 when President Buhari visited the state. Indeed, Kano people have passion for APC and there is no doubt that they will massively Vote for the party,” he stated.
Speaking earlier, national chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, also described Kano as the political hotbed of the nation.
Speaking in Hausa, Adamu said, “Kano Tumbin Giwa yaro Ko da mai Kazo an fika,” meaning Kano is the stomach of an Elephant and pacesetter among all the Hausa states; whatever you are searching for you definitely find it.
Adamu who was metaphorically referring to Kano as the epicentre of all political activities and as the home of reputable political juggernauts continued speaking in Hausa, saying “whoever is looking for political victory must come to Kano and since Tinubu is accepted by the state he should go home and sleep.”
Your Lack Of Integrity Forced Buhari To Shun Your Campaign, Atiku Fires Back
But hitting back, the PDP presidential candidate said President Muhammadu Buhari was forced to distance himself from the APC presidential campaign because of Tinubu’s total lack of integrity.
Speaking through Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign organization, Atiku wondered whether it was not an absurdity that Tinubu was addressing Nigerians despite the corruption allegation hanging on his neck.
In a statement he issued last night, Ologbondiyan said, “Is it not an absurdity that a presidential candidate that is beleaguered by several allegations bordering on corruption, perjury, identity theft, inconsistencies in name as well as alleged narcotics offence, for which he forfeited a gargantuan sum of $460,000 to the United States of America, could muster the courage to address any gathering whatsoever on the issue of integrity.
“Has Asiwaju Tinubu defended the identity theft of the picture of former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, which was deliberately used by his campaign organization to portray him as a bright youngman?
“The Atiku/Okowa campaign says the continuous absence of President Buhari at the APC presidential campaigns showcases a concern by Mr President that Tinubu, because of his lack of integrity, will lose a free, fair and credible poll at the February 25 presidential election.
“Our campaign also holds that President Buhari is distancing himself from the Tinubu’s campaign because of the inability of the APC presidential candidate to provide convincing explanation on his links to the alleged forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States authorities in a narcotics related matter.
“We therefore counsel Tinubu to stop dishing empty promises to Nigerians since compatriots are yet to recover from similar events which he led in the past.
“We urge Nigerians to continue to give their support to the leading presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the collective drive to rescue and rebuild our nation”.