The Guardian (Nigeria)

Together, we ’ ll build stronger, prosperous Nigeria, says Tinubu

-

THE National Leader of the All Progressiv­es Congress ( APC) and presidenti­al aspirant of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said he will work towards creating a stronger and more prosperous Nigeria surpassing even the dreams of the country’s founding- fathers.

He stated this in Katsina, Katsina State, when he held talks with APC delegates to the national convention/ presidenti­al primaries from the state.

Tinubu, while addressing the delegates at the meeting held by Governor Aminu Bello Masari, his deputy, Alhaji Muniru Yakubu, and APC chairman in the state,

Alhaji Sani Aliyu Daura, promised to work with the state to address its irrigation problem if elected president.

The presidenti­al aspirant said he would stand in partnershi­p with the state to defeat poverty, hunger, banditry and violence.

“Katsina has many dams. We will work with the state to reticulate them. We will do this to combat irrigation. Katsina has the resources to be an industrial hub, to be a centre for industrial­isation and prosperity,” he said.

The former Lagos State governor urged the delegates to support him to win the party’s nomination and be elected president next year, adding: “Anybody can contest. Not anybody has what it takes to be president. I have the vision, passion, capacity and competence to deliver for the country.”

Masari described Tinubu as a cosmopolit­an leader, detribalis­ed politician, bridge- builder and uncommon unifier who brought many diverse people into public limelight by appointing them into his cabinet as governor of Lagos State notwithsta­nding their states of origin.

Meanwhile, the APC chairman in the state pledged the support of the delegates for Tinubu, saying: “Having supported our son, President

Muhammadu Buhari, to win the presidency in 2015 and 2019, we will support you too for 2023.”

Also, former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, who joined Tinubu on the visit to Katsina, said he was backing the APC leader not for political convenienc­e, but because of moral imperative­s.

He said Tinubu in the past created a political party, Action Congress ( AC), which he offered to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to contest for presidency in 2007 when Atiku was harassed and hounded out of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria