The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has appealed to his opponents to work with him to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 2023 presidential election. Tinubu said this while giving his victory speech at Eagle Square, the venue of the APC primary. The former governor commended those who stepped down for him. Tinubu thanked his contenders and delegates, noting that he held no grudges against anyone who didn’t support him. “Let me not punish my president too long. The competition you offered made our party stronger and made me better. I am grateful to all of you. “I hold no grudges and grievances. Let us work together to defeat PDP. They had 16 years, they depleted our resources, and they left us with hunger. They are the agent of poverty, terror and lying.” He said, “Those who didn’t support me have nothing to fear. I hold no grudges. Let us all work together.” He subsequently apologised to Buhari for keeping him waiting, saying, “Please forgive me for taking you this long. I didn’t expect to win but I won. Today is the only day I can punish you.”

  In his acceptance speech, Tinubu who was highly elated said “today is another historic day and it is thanks to God almighty that you are living healthy to witness it, to be part of it, to be your calling, to be your arrangement. “We all, not only as a party, it has gone beyond partisan idea now. It is yours as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. You put it together and you have even gracious and humble from the beginning. We are very grateful to you. The vice president, a very good and supportive pillar, a good assistant to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo GCON, we than you for this steady and good support to our president. “To you, the legislature, the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, I would have been a little upset because you competed with me but that is over now since you can easily leak your wounds. It doesn’t take away from thanking you from the past cooperation and cool-headedness to build our country. You have helped in steering the ship of the nation and with your colleagues in the Senate, history is written and will be kind to you. “And to my brother, Hakeem Gbajabiamila, the sparkling speaker, I credit you. The Gbajabiamilas of Lagos have been part of the history of this country and you will not be forgotten. “To you, the legislature, the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, I would have been a little upset because you competed with me but that is over now since you can easily leak your wounds. It doesn’t take away from thanking you from the past cooperation and cool-headedness to build our country. You have helped in steering the ship of the nation and with your colleagues in the Senate, history is written and will be kind to you. “And to my brother, Hakeem Gbajabiamila, the sparkling speaker, I credit you. The Gbajabiamilas of Lagos have been part of the history of this country and you will not be forgotten. “To the chairman of our party, senator Abdullahi Adamu, it appeared some weeks back that some newspapers and many people were ready to write the obituary of this party. We put together and pulled ourselves as a cat with nine lives. We thatched the roof, steady the pillars and became master builders. You came on and worked hard with the collaboration of others and here we are. Shame on those who were already building the coffin of APC. Shame on them. Our party is alive. They won’t be able to do the convention but here we are are, the first convention to chose the. See executives, the governors pulled themselves together, we did break our backs and we are here, very happy and confident and courageous to tell you that the cat that lies down quietly is not a pretension of death but breeding of its energy to devour its enemies. Now we are here, we will roar. We will do it. We will tell Poverty Development Party. They call themselves PDP, 16 years of failures of wastefulness, we day step aside, be buried and leave the way way for us. We will repair our country. “We are Progressives, we are nation builders. We are not destroyers. We are confident that this nation is back in track”, he stated. Tinubu also spoke about the growing wave of killings in the country, saying; “We are not the barbaric, blind human beings they think we are. They are setting us against in another. When you were born, you didn’t hear from the womb whether you would be a male or female, Christian or Muslim. You were born to your parents and adopted their religions and you continued. “The Bible taught us to love your neighbour as you love yourself. It did not say kill your neighbour. It is in the two holy books. Goodness for goodness. Learn to accept mistakes, not from gunshots or the destruction of lives and property because the life you take you cannot bring back, the hate you spill cannot cure your hunger. We must build a new society and learn to think a new way of life”. He commended all his fellow aspirants for the stiff and strong opposition they offered which he said made the party better and himself humble. Tinubu particularly lauded all the seven aspirants who stepped down for him saying it was a very difficult decision that they made. “The competition is now over. Those who did not support me, you have nothing to fear. I hold no grudges. Let us join hands to beat the PDP and beat back their retrogressive understanding of Nigeria. They had 16 years, they depleted our resources and left us with hunger. Let us dig their graves by defeating them in the next election because they are the agents of poverty, terror, violence and lying”, he stated. Apologizing to President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping him waiting due to his long acceptance speech, Tinubu said; “I didn’t expect to win, but I won and I must be intoxicated by the victory. What can I do?” President Buhari later presented to Asiwaju Tinubu the flag of the party while the Imo state Governor, Hope Uzodinma moved a motion for the indefinite adjournment of the convention. It was seconded by the Zamfara state Governor, Bello Matawalle.

  A top campaigner for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Richard Akinnola, has congratulated Mr Bola Tinubu on his ‘expected victory in the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Akinnola, a lawyer and journalist, extended his wishes to the APC chieftain on Wednesday in a statement posted on his Facebook page. “Congratulations, Asiwaju Tinubu, the presumed winner of the primaries,” he said in the statement. “In any contest, there must be a winner. “However, I’m very proud of my choice of support in the person of Professor Yemi Osinbajo. I have no iota of regret over my support for him. It was a privilege to play a pivotal role for him during the process. I would gladly do it over and over again.” The congratulatory message comes amid the sorting of votes cast by party delegates at the primary which began on Tuesday and ran through the second day. Although organisers had yet to announce the winner of the contest for the APC presidential ticket at the time the statement was issued, data collated so far suggested that Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, had taken the lead. Despite the presumed victory of the former governor, Akinnola stressed that he was proud to have supported the Vice President in his bid to emerge as the APC presidential flagbearer. “It’s a matter of conviction, and for all our supporters and other volunteers who worked assiduously, day and night on the PYO project, God bless you all. I’m so proud of all of you,” he said. “As l often say, God rules in the affairs of men and He has a purpose for what just happened. “Understandably, many of you are dispirited and downcast but do not let your heart be troubled. There must be a reason God allowed this. It may not be manifest to us now but later as He is all knowing. I’m unfazed, unbowed, and very proud of PYO.”

  Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation has faulted the emergence of Bola Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress. They made this known in a statement on Wednesday titled, ‘Yahaya Bello remains the hero of the oppressed’. In the statement issued by the group’s Director, Media and Publicity, Yemi Kolapo, the process that produced Tinubu was described as “compromised” and “crooked”. Read full statement: The All Progressives Congress’ presidential primary elections have come and gone. The process was largely peaceful but highly compromised. This is however not new in a country where democracy is defined as the government of the oppressors by the oppressors and for the oppressors. “It is sad to note that those who should know and who many progressives had thought of as leaders with integrity are the ones working against the people they were (s)elected to represent for egocentric reasons. “In this process, one leader stands out, according to the majority of Nigerians. And that leader is one that has proven to the downtrodden and those regarded as “Nigerians without surnames”, that regardless of agelong intimidation by the elite, the best of our people can stand tall without compromising the values that we should have been known for as a nation. “That leader, I say with all sense of fairness, is Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello of Kogi State. He is the hero of this process and has made his point loud and clear to the admiration of even his worst enemies. “If there was a clear, desperate gang-up by northern governors and the leaders of a party against one person, and that person never for once disappointed his teeming supporters but rather fought to the very end, not minding the crooked process, then he should be celebrated by the constituency he represents – the youth.

  The reason for the obvious absence of the former minister of states for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba at the ongoing primary election of the ruling All Progressives Congress is clear now. Prof Chinedu Nwajiuba, the elder brother to the presidential aspirant said his younger brother, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, PhD, refused to address party delegates and leader at the party’s Special Convention on Tuesday because leaders of the party at the top level reneged on agreement and understanding that informed his engagement in the presidential project. According to the former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Alike, Ebonyi State, the junior Nwajiuba reached understanding from the highest levels of the party from the onset and considering his pivotal role in the founding of the APC. Prof Nwajiuba who said he had been inundated by calls over the action of the ex-Minister of State, Education, disclosed that the understanding was that the party would zone the ticket to the South, then South-East and that the candidate would emerge via consensus. Besides, he said Chukwuemeka does not want to be associated with the dollar and Naira Bazaar’that the Convention turn out to be and had to excuse himself. a statement signed by him read, “Many friends are calling to find out why my brother, Dr Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba did not come out to address the APC convention. “Simple, the understanding from the highest levels prior to his involvement, and considering his role in the founding of the APC, was that of consensus as was with the National Chairmanship a few months ago. “With that understanding, the Presidential ticket was to come to the South and the southeast. “This has been the hope till the end of the negotiations. He, not wanting to be part of the Dollar and Naira bazaar, is convinced that what Nigeria needs now is no more of the same thing that has kept Nigeria at the low level it has been. “Our challenges as a country cannot be addressed at the same energy level by which they were created “God order our footsteps towards a better life for all Nigerians. God bless you”. The decision of the Ex-Minister is in tandem with the statements of former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and Former Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu.

  Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has congratulated Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu for winning the party’s presidential ticket. Atiku hailed the APC leader for coming out victorious in what he termed ‘a hard-fought contest’ after beating other contenders in the race. In his congratulatory message, Atiku on his official Twitter handle wrote, “Congratulations, @officialABAT, on your emergence as your party’s presidential candidate. “It has been a hard-fought contest, but that you prevailed confirms your tenacity”. Tinubu today emerged the APC presidential flag bearer after defeating the likes of Osibanjo, Amaechi, Lawan and others to Clinch the party’s ticket.

  Dr Usani Uguru Usani, a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, and Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, President Muhammadu Buhari’s former Special Assistant on Prosecution, have dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Labour Party respectively. The duo expressed confidence that they can achieve their political aspirations with their new parties. They dumped the APC after they accused it of ignoring older members as well as unilateral decisions and imposition of favourites of the governor who have hardly spent three months in the party. Speaking in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, where he was nominated as the governorship flagbearer of the PRP, Usani said the burden of being the party’s candidate is heavy, but that he has accepted it in good faith. He thanked the delegates for their sacrifices. “This sacrifice has been enormous, we do not take it for granted. “Those who may come to you and say this party is not on ground, say to them that it is people that make the party. “When we started the APC, they said the same thing but today they are fighting to join the party we brought to Cross River State,” he said. Similarly, Obono-Obla, who lost APC Cross River Central Senatorial primary election to current Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Eteng Williams, said, “Political platform is only a vehicle for the realization of one’s political aspiration and interest. “It is my own people’s interests that I will represent them in the Senate. I will do my utmost to ensure that my people‘s politcal interest is not rendered unnoticed by some Potentate who decide who is at where.” He expressed the hope that on the platform of the Labour Party, he would certainly perform very well.