At Gombe Rally, Buhari Canvasses Support for All APC Candidates

•Tinubu: We’ll make Nigeria better 

•Ours is only party anchored on social democracy, says Osinbajo

Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Segun Awofadeji in Gombe

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, at Gombe rally, declared that he was one hundred per cent with all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including the party’s presidential hopeful, Bola Tinubu, ahead the national elections.

Also speaking, Tinubu, who led other APC chieftains to the state in continuation of his campaign tour, reassured Nigerians that the APC would make Nigeria better.

This is as the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has said the ruling APC remained the only party anchored on social democracy, social protection and social mobility, especially, for the poor.

However, Buhari who assured the APC candidates that he would give all his support at whatever level, spoke through the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami.

Dismissing rumours that he did not support some of the APC candidates, the president, who claimed that there was no such thing, added that observing the kind of projects that his government had laid out in Gombe, confirmed the support of the people of the state and asked for their favor to support the party’s candidates.

On his party, Tinubu promised to ensure that the state became a business hub of the North-East subregion, considering the available natural resources in the state.

He said on his watch, people of Gombe and Bauchi States would benefit from oil exploration for development, having been blessed with oil, adding also that oil exploration in Gombe and Bauchi States would further open up the zone in terms of economic development and job opportunities which would in turn boost revenue generation of the country.

Gombe State Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, who is seeking re-election, declared that he was proud he did not embarrass the people of his state, because he has done a lot of development works in the state that he was proud of.

In his speech, the deputy presidential candidate of the APC party, Senator Kasim Shettima, assured the people of Gombe that the APC would keep their trust and would do its best to overcome the existing problems as long as it was given another chance.

Nevertheless, Osinbajo, who spoke on Monday at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, while inaugurating the APC Legal Compliance Committee, with responsibility for more than 1,400 federal and states elective positions holding on February 25 and March 11, 2023, said, “Ours is the only party anchored on social democracy, social protection, that is, social mobility for the poor, and justice for the wronged.”

He noted that the Committee was crucial to the achievement of the party’s electoral ambitions during the elections both at the federal and state levels.

The Vice President, who urged its members to be proactive and remain committed to the assignment, said, “I am therefore glad that we have here an assembly of very committed members of the party, who, by their calling as lawyers, will be able to offer tremendous value for the party through protection of its interests at every step of this electoral process.

“Those of you that have worked with us in the build-up to the 2015 and the 2019 general election know that the proactive approach we adopted, especially, through the ear-on-the-ground work of the Presidential Legal Team, has provided us crucial head-start in tackling some of the challenges that we were confronted with.”

He added that the party’s manifesto in 2014, 2015 and 2023 contained the most detailed Social Investment Policy.

Earlier, one of the spokespersons of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Minister of State, Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, further underscored the importance of the Legal Compliance Committee.

Coordinator of the Committee, Mr El-Marzuq, said the group composed of carefully selected lawyers tasked with the provision of comprehensive legal services to the party during the electioneering period, noting their preparedness to serve in the different capacities assigned to them.