Politics
Tinubu didn’t fall sick in Minna – APC *Why campaign was cut short *Gets 100 vehicles boost
With the donation of 100 vehicles from Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East) and an ICT centre to support to support his efforts, the campaign of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) got a major boost from Niger State on Wednesday.
But it was also a day of a strange drama, as the former Governor of Lagos State, had to cut short his campaigns in the city, half-way into the event, after saying a few words to the surging crowd, in a manner that has led to a lot of speculations, with some quarters saying that he was too sick to continue the programme and had to be rushed out of the venue on that account.
However, in a statement, Campaign Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, debunked the health angle, saying ending the campaign the way it did, was to prevent a major incident in form of a stampede if the crowd of exited supporters, angling to reach him, had been allowed to continue to push.
Onanuga, said in a statement: “A crowd of APC supporters welcomed the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to Minna on Wednesday, as he arrived for the mega rally. The cheering crowd was unprecedented, according to journalists at the Trade Fair Complex, venue of the rally.
“Tinubu, who held another successful rally in Kaduna on Tuesday, arrived in Minna in the evening of the same day for a series of meetings with APC leaders. The crowd was so huge that Tinubu spoke briefly to appreciate the supporters and identified the party candidates seeking elective positions. Contrary to the rumours that he was rushed off stage because of health concerns, Tinubu cut it short to attend to other programmes of the day. He commended the party supporters for coming out en masse to witness the flag off of the presidential campaign.”
While donating the vehicles and inaugurating the centre, Tinubu said:”I inaugurate these vehicles and the ICT office for the well being of Nigerians and for the good health of the people of Niger during and after our presidential campaign.”
Musa had told the APC presidential candidate that all hands are on deck to mobilise eligible voters to massively vote all the party candidates in the forthcoming general election adding that the gesture, was a modest contribution towards the victory of APC.
Tinubu was accompanied to the event by Sani Bello, Governor, of the state, Senate President, Ahmed Lawal, Simon Lalong of Plateau, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa and Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, as well as federal lawmakers.
The Tinubu train also witnessed the inauguration of another presidential campaign office, donated by Alhaji Mohammed Idris, publisher of Blueprint .
Idris is also the director of the Directorate of Strategic Communications of the campaign council.
Explaining the reason for cutting short the event, the APC claimed it was to prevent stampede, as the crowd appeared too much to control, as it was pressing to meet him in excitement.
The masters of ceremony repeatedly asked the crowd to move back to avoid the podium from collapsing, but the crowd who pressed on continued as they shouted: “we want Tinubu.”
Holding the hands of the Governorship candidate, Umar Bago, and Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, who is contesting for the Niger North Senatorial seat, Tinubu urged the people to support APC candidates in the state.
He was prevented from speaking further as the crowd continued to surge, despite the warning from the MC. Tinubu had to leave the venue 18 minutes after his arrival.
Tinubu later commissioned his North Central Campaign Office, which was along the Eastern bypass about 10 minutes drive from the Trade Fair Complex where the campaign rally held.
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
For Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s 14th leader, and the third President since 1999, the road is now clear, should he be interested to make a comeback to reclaim the office he lost to the late President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
This is on the strength of a decision by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which hours ago, threw out a suit challenging the eligibility of the former President to make a go at the nation’s number one job, including that of 2027.
Peter Lifu, on Tuesday, held that JohnMary Jideobi, the plaintiff, who pursued the case of stopping the ex-President, lacked the legal right to have instituted the suit, having not suffered any loss from Jonathan’s perceived intention to vie in next year’s poll.
(AGF).
Lifu not only dismissed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2102/2025, where Jideobi had prayed the court for an order restraining Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election, but slammed him with a N20 million fine to be paid in favour of the ex-president, and N1million fine against in favour of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
Against the backdrop of Jideobi’s argument was that Jonathan, having completed the tenure of the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later served a full term after the 2011 elections, he had exhausted the constitutional limit of two terms in office, Lifu described it as a waste of time.
He also dismissed the plea that the court should restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing Jonathan’s name as a candidate in the 2027 elections or any future presidential poll, insisting that the matter had earlier been litigated upon with a judicial pronouncement made on it.
Referring to the decision of a Federal High Court, Yenagoa which had previously dealt with a similar matter and the concurrence of the Court of Appeal, affirming Jonathan’s eligibility, Lifu, who earlier refused to recuse himself from the matter, said he was bound by both, dismissed the latest attempt as “an abuse of court process.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, virtually poured cold water on the burning issue of Goodluck Jonathan, for Nigerian President making a bid for the office he lost in 2915 to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, through the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Obi, who is also making another bid for the same office for the second time, told reporters on Tuesday, shortly getting a letter of clearance from the Nigerian Democratic Congress though he was not aware that the former President was contesting, he was in no position to obstruct the move as political choices were the rights of individuals to make.
Against the revelation by Babangida Aliyu, former Governor of Niger State, who spoke on behalf of Nemadi Sambo, Jonathan’s Vice President and currently in charge of the presidential screening of the Peoples Democratic Party, Obi told the reporters at the NDC National Secretariat in Abuja: “Actually, I’m not aware of that. But democracy is about people offering themselves for service and being voted for.
“I’m not in any way going around looking for who and who is contesting. I’m concentrating on how to build a better Nigeria.”
But he was quick to marshal out his plans for the country, declaring that under his presidency, Nigerians would be freed from daily lamentations coming from the parlous situation the present government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by President Bola Tinubu had plunged the country.
Hear him: “This I will do by first uniting the country because it’s not a united country. We have to govern the country by the Constitution of Nigeria, which stipulates federal character and inclusivity. The country must be united. The country must be secure.
“We want to see mothers no longer fear when their children go to school or work. We also want a country where we can travel all over Nigeria without fear. So many Nigerians today go to bed not knowing where the next meal will come from tomorrow. That must change.
“We must live in a country where people do not turn public assets and public wealth into private assets. So we must fight corruption to a standstill and make it work for everybody. Politicians are preoccupied with the next election when Nigerians are dying. That must stop.”
He also took time to explain the reason for the two-hour stretch of drilling during the screening. Saying: “This is democracy in action because NDC chooses to do things properly. So when we say this is going to be screening, it has to be done right.
“Nigerians want to know whether you meet the stipulated constitutional qualification and provide relevant documents to back them.
“This is the way to know whether everything you have said or declared is the truth and if you can answer questions posed about your commitment to building a united, secure and prosperous Nigeria. That’s why the screening took over two hours.”
Regarding his status as a sole candidate, Obi, who was accompanied by Victor Umeh, a long time ally and Senator representing Anambra Central at the National Assembly, said: “I don’t know who else has bought. So until the party says I’m the only one who expressed interest, that’s it.”
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