Buhari campaigns for APC guber candidates

President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari has hit the road again rooting for governorship and state assembly candidates of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).The elections hold Saturday and Gen Buhari yesterday appealed to the electorate in Lagos and Imo states to vote for Mr Akinwunmi Ambode and Rochas Okorocha respectively.Today Buhari will hold town hall […]

President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari has hit the road again rooting for governorship and state assembly candidates of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The elections hold Saturday and Gen Buhari yesterday appealed to the electorate in Lagos and Imo states to vote for Mr Akinwunmi Ambode and Rochas Okorocha respectively.
Today Buhari will hold town hall meetings in Gombe, Adamawa and Bauchi states. He will meet with religious leaders, traditional rulers, youths, businessmen and women, pressure groups, among other stakeholders.
He will also visit other states considered to be battle grounds for the governorship election. The states include Rivers, Nasarawa, Abia, Delta and likely Benue.
The campaigns end mid night on Thursday, but there was little indication last night that President Goodluck Jonathan, whom Buhari defeated 11 days ago, was canvassing support for PDP candidates.
Jonathan’s spokesman, Reuben Abati and the president’s aide on public affairs, Doyin Okupe, neither answered phone calls made to them nor replied to a text message on the issue.
However in a statement yesterday, Abati said Jonathan had urged Nigerians to go out en-masse once again on Saturday to vote for candidates of their choice in the governorship and state assembly elections.
While campaigning in Lagos yesterday, General Buhari urged residents to vote for APC candidates on Saturday, for the state to benefit immensely from the government at the centre, which would be led by the party.
Addressing party supporters at an APC mega rally, he said that Lagos State is too important for APC to lose.
Amidst shouts of ‘Sai Baba, Sai Buhari’ from the crowd, Buhari expressed gratitude to the people of Lagos State for voting him in penultimate Saturday’s presidential election.
The President-elect said: “I am here in appreciation of your love for both the APC and I. I urge you to vote for APC from bottom to up this Saturday. People should not deny Lagos the opportunities at the centre particularly now that we are at the centre.”
Buhari recalled that while he was in Lagos during his presidential campaign tour, Governor Babatunde Fashola, had informed him that the state government had spent billions on maintenance of federal roads.
He added: “When Governor Fashola informed me about this, I told him that if I become the President of the country, I would give Lagos priority because without doubt, Lagos is a mini-Nigeria. I now urge Lagosians to vote Mr Akinwunmi Ambode of the APC as governor, as well as vote for all the other candidates of the APC for continuity of the purposeful government that you have been used to under Governor Fashola.
“It is in your interest to vote APC this Saturday. Tell your neighbours, family members and friends that APC is the party that can bring the desired development. Let the PDP members also bury their hatchet, fall in line and vote APC.”
Earlier, in his address, APC national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun was full of praises for Lagosians for voting for Buhari during the presidential election.
“For 16 years, Lagos has been working and developing under a hostile Federal Government. Lagosians should vote APC for continuity. We are now at the centre, Lagosians will prosper accordingly under APC,” he said
In his remarks, Governor Babatunde Fashola reminded Lagosians that the state had been in opposition in the last 16 years. He asked the people to come out and vote for all APC candidates on Saturday, “so that the state would have direct access to the Federal Government.”
According to him, “the outstanding N51 billion spent by the state government on maintenance of federal roads which the out-going government refused to pay back would be got without stress from the new government that would be formed by the APC.”
In Owerri, General Buhari said the people’s vote is their strength with which they could remove non performing government from office.
The president elect assured the people of South East of a level playing ground in his administration.
He urged Imo people to still demonstrate their commitment to the party by going out on Saturday to vote for Governor Rochas Okorocha and all the APC house of assembly contestants to ensure smooth running of his administration.
He told Buhari that the people of the state during last presidential suffered intimidation, impunity and harassments in the hands of both PDP and security agents.
He made passionate appeal to Buhari to give priority to South East in his government.
‘Vote for candidates of your choice’
President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians to go out en-masse once again on Saturday to vote for candidates of their choice in the governorship and state assembly elections.
He said they should do this “with the confidence that his administration will do all within its powers to ensure that they do so in peace, without threats, intimidation or violence from any quarters”.
Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, stated this at a news conference in Abuja yesterday.
He warned against “negative triumphalism” in the aftermath of the March 28 presidential election.
Abati said Jonathan condemned the attempt by some politicians, groups and individuals to intimidate others, heat up the polity and cause public disorder and disaffection in the aftermath of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
“President Jonathan is especially concerned about the negative triumphalism that has been put on display by certain elements since March 31 which flies in the face of his personal commitment to post-election peace, unity and national stability”, Abati said.
He said Jonathan urged all those who had been promoting divisiveness, sectionalism and ethnic hatred in Nigeria following the outcome of the March 28 elections to desist from such actions.
Abati said the president also condemned the undue harassment of public officials serving under his administration and urged all affected persons to continue to perform their lawful duties without fear.
The presidential aide said the Federal Government would not condone any attempt to instigate crisis in any part of the country in furtherance of personal political ambitions.
He said Jonathan assured all Nigerians that his administration remained committed to national progress and the entrenchment of the best values of democracy for the good of all Nigerians.
He said the president called on all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law-abiding as the country prepares for Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections.
‘Jonathan held back by state engagements’
National publicity secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh said President Goodluck Jonathan was fully aware of the gubernatorial campaigns by the party but had been held back from attending due to other state engagements.
“The president is well aware of the campaigns and he is involved in very bit of it talking to all the candidates and the candidates are satisfied what the president is doing.”
However, the president’s Special Adviser on Political Matters Professor Rufai Alkali said Jonathan and the entire machinery of the PDP were campaigning for the party’s governorship candidates.
“How do you know that Mr President is not campaigning or seeking support for the PDP governorship candidates?
“The reality is that not just Mr President alone, everybody and of course, the entire machinery of PDP is out there campaigning. This is not the time for noise making”, Alkali said.