All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential standard bearer Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday spoke on why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should not return to power in next year’s election.
He described the main opposition party as a party of “termites”, which failed to fight the infrastructure battle as the ruling party for 16 years.
The eminent politician spoke at the inauguration of the Tinubu-Shettima Women Presidential Campaign Team hosted by First Lady Aisha Buhari at Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, urged party chieftains to take advantage of the huge women population and seek for votes from the nook and crannies of the country.
The First lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, who is the leader of the APC Women Campaign Team, urged women and youths to unite and collectively work for the victory of the party.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), wife of the flag bearer, described the Tinubu-Shettima ticket as the best option for Nigerians in 2023.
The Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong advised the women to avoid character assassination, hate speech and propaganda during the campaign.
APC women leaders and representatives from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) converged on the venue where National Chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu said the votes of women will be a critical factor in next year’s poll.
The ceremony was witnessed by Governors Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), APC Women Leader Beta Edu, and Nollywood actress Joke Silva.
Hailing the women for their unity of purpose and dedication, Tinubu said he entered the race to give hope to Nigerians.
He said: “To the women gathered here today, help is here, hope is here, assurance is here, promise is here, prosperity is here, security is here. Banditry has ended, hopelessness is not part of our dictionary; we are confident people, unity is here; diversity is here; prosperity is here.
“As Nigerians, we’re not going to give up. The sign in this cap is ‘broken shackles’. You break the shackle of poverty, break the shackle of ignorance, break the shackle of destitution, break shackles of failures. God will bless us. We will break that shackle, we will succeed as Nigerians”.
Tinubu praised President Buhari for repositioning the country, stressing that he liberated Nigeria from a state of hopelessness across the sectors.
Urging Nigerians to reject the PDP at the poll, he said: “16 years of rudderlessness, of digging the hole of indebtedness of PDP. Never again shall they come back. Who are they? They are looters. Who are they? They are squanderers. Go out there and tell them, a new hope is here. Tell them you’re following the man who knows the way; tell them you’re following the builder ”.
Mrs. Buhari explained that her committee had to extract assurances of more women inclusion in the next administration by signing a pact with the party leadership ahead of the polls
She said: “Permit to voice out our concerns for the progressive decline in the involvement and participation of women in elective and appointive positions at all the three tiers of government. Our clamours and cries over the years have remained unattended to, especially at the levels of legislative arm of government.
“For this reason, our movement has no option than to ask the party leadership to sign a pact with Nigerian women. We have no option than to sign a pact with Nigerian women that will spell out the good policies of the party towards women for documentation and follow-up purposes.
“Women will begin their assignments with one target in mind: “deliver the presidency of APC in 2023. This is attainable because it has been done twice in 2015 and 2019.”
Lalong urged the women to avoid character assassination, hate speech and propaganda, adding that they should engaged in issues-based campaigns.
“Leave that to the opposition and stay with the achievements of our party in women empowerment and also tell them that under the Presidency of Bola Tinubu, Nigerian women and their children will have an even better deal.”
He urged the women to “go all over Nigeria, particularly into the grassroots’ and sell the agenda and vision of Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, whose pedigree for women empowerment is widely known.”
