Bola Tinubu
The
ruling All Progressives Congress national leader, Bola Tinubu has come
out to beg for Igbo votes ahead of Saturday's election.
National leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, on Wednesday appealed to Igbos in Lagos State to vote APC
candidates in the February and March elections.
In the same vein, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo solicited the
support of Hausa community in the Southwest for the re-election of
President Muhammadu Buhari and other APC candidates in the zone.
While Tinubu made the appeal in Ikeja at a stakeholders’ meeting,
Osinbajo spoke at a Town Hall Meeting with the Hausa community, also in
Ikeja.
Both meetings took place on Wednesday in separate venues.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Tinubu’s meeting with Igbo
was called to perfect the party’s preparedness for the rescheduled
elections on February 23 and March 9 in the state.
The party leader noted that the APC government never discriminated
against people from the South East and others in the state in the
delivery of democratic dividends, saying the party expected them to
support its candidates at the polls for progress.
“We appeal to our Igbo brothers from the East, this is the
state where you conduct your businesses, your children are in our
schools, we don’t discriminate against them in our WAEC fees.
“We don’t discriminate against them for NECO fees. We don’t
discriminate against them for JAMB fees. Even in our universities, they
take the benefit of our tuition and allowances and all that.
“Now, this time, we say, help us. We say vote for us and our candidates,” Tinubu said.
He reminded them of the time the popular ASPAMDA market and other
markets dominated by the Igbo faced threats of demolition, recalling
that he took necessary steps to save the markets, thereby protected the
interests of the traders who were mainly from the South East.
He warned that the party would monitor election results in
Igbo-dominated areas such as Amuwo-Odofin, Ojo, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, and
Surulere in anticipation of votes for APC.
Recall that in the 2015 elections, the APC lost some legislative
seats to the PDP in the areas mentioned, though some of the winners
later defected to the APC.
Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday solicited
support of the Hausa community in the Southwest for the re-election of
President Muhammadu Buhari and other APC candidates in the zone.
Osinbajo, who made the plea at a Town Hall Meeting with the Hausa
community in Ikeja, Lagos State, said that some former leaders did not
like Buhari because of his stand against corruption.
NAN reports that Arewa community leaders, drawn from Lagos State and other Southwest states, were present at the meeting.
“What we are hoping to see on Saturday is an affirmation, a
vote for a man who has proved through the years to be a man of truth and
honesty.
“The problem of our country is not that we don’t have enough
money; the problem is that of leaders that we put there. Many of them
stole the money meant for the people.
“We are able to do more than even when they (previous
administrations) are even earning more because the President is not a
thief. Even his worst enemies, those who hate him, know that he is a man
of truth. They know he is a man who will not steal the money of the
people,” the VP said.
He added: “Let us not have any doubt in our minds, the battle for power in this country is the battle between good and evil.
“This is not a religious matter. You find thieves among the
Christians, thieves among Muslims; you will find honest men among
Christians, we find honest men among Muslims.
“This next level that we are talking about by the Grace of God,
the people of this country will begin to enjoy the fruits of all the
sacrifice they have made in the last four years.”
Continuing, Osinbajo said, “Muhammadu Buhari has done a term now; by May, it will be four years.
“In another four years, I promise you by the grace of God, this
country will be a different place; it will be a country that all of us
will be proud of.”
The vice president, who said that he didn’t doubt the sincerity of
the Hausa leaders to vote, charged them to mobilise the Arewa community
to come out en mass to vote.
Chairman, Arewa Community in Lagos State, Ahmed Kabiru, who
commended Osinbajo for recognising the community, said that Buhari
remained a “sell-able product.”
“The principal thing I am selling is President Muhammadu Buhari
and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. I have to sell it to this audience.
“On behalf of the entire Arewa community across the nooks and
crannies of the South West Nigeria, I want to reassure you of our
support, our unflinching support for APC.
“We are going to vote APC from the very top to the lowest position. I assure you, we are going to do this,” Ahmed Kabiru said.
Hausa leader in Akure, Sadiq Babangida, said that the community
would not change its decision to support APC, adding that the country
needs honest and sincere leaders.
Also at the meeting were Chairman, Hausa Community, Ondo State,
Umar Abdullahi; National President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Ado
Suaibu; and Sarkin Hausawa, Abeokuta, Ibrahim Hassan.
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