APC presidential campaign flag-off: Lalong inaugurates 40-man organising c’ttee

Ahead of the flag-off of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign scheduled to hold in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on November 15, Governor Simon Lalong has inaugurated a 40-man Local Organising Committee (LOC) to ensure a successful exercise. Speaking at the Plateau State Old Government House, Rayfield, Jos, Lalong, who is the Director […]

Ahead of the flag-off of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign scheduled to hold in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on November 15, Governor Simon Lalong has inaugurated a 40-man Local Organising Committee (LOC) to ensure a successful exercise.

Speaking at the Plateau State Old Government House, Rayfield, Jos, Lalong, who is the Director General (DG) of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, said success must be achieved.

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He said, “It is a great privilege and a golden opportunity for us to demonstrate that Plateau is a dominant force in APC and will set the pace towards the victory of our presidential candidate and others.

“It is with excitement that I welcome you to this very important but brief event which is the inauguration of the Local Organising Committee for the flag-off of the APC presidential campaign scheduled to hold in Jos, Plateau State, on the 15th of November, 2022.

“This is another great opportunity for our state to revive its strategic place in Nigeria’s political history.

“Our state is not new to hosting this kind of event, and indeed has a very excellent record of hosting presidential campaigns and party primaries that produce presidents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other eminent leaders.

“However, this is the first time that we are hosting such an event under the APC, which makes it even more historic. As if that is not enough, this flag-off of the APC presidential campaign is holding under my watch as the Director General of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Council.”

He urged the committee members to ensure that the groundwork was laid for the successful hosting of the event, adding that the members’ selection was based on their capacity, loyalty, track record of service to the party and commitment to the success of his administration.

Speaking on behalf of the members, the committee’s Chairman and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, promised that they would do their best to deliver on their mandate.

Party cautions PDP against ‘campaign of calumny’

Meanwhile, the Director, Special Media Projects and New Media, of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has asked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to imbibe issue-based campaigns.

Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation, in a statement on Sunday, said Atiku’s camp had been criticising the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on health grounds, saying such “campaign of calumny” must stop.

Atiku was recently quoted as saying, “Nobody should take the candidate of that party (APC) seriously. No one should take a candidate and a party whose health situation, early school and early years are all shrouded in secrecy.”

But reacting, the APC campaign council on Sunday said, “We want a campaign that centres on issues, but Atiku and his men and friends do not even know the meaning of the word. A man that cannot hold his own party together wants to be president.

“When he and his men attempt to mock the Jagaban on issues of health I laugh and shake my head with pity for them. The truth is that Asiwaju is so far ahead of Atiku in this and every other respect, and they know it.

“A man that cannot empathise with the suffering of the people and that gloats when people are suffering and when there is turmoil in the land cannot be trusted with power.”