Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it will not be carried away by the endorsement of the ruling party’s presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, by the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere.
Reacting to the endorsement, APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre, Issa-Onilu, who was very critical of the Ohaneze endorsement of the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, however, made a U-turn noting that any endorsement is welcome.
“The endorsement by Afenifere or any group whatsoever by whatever name so called is welcome. It is within their right to do so. But, I will also tell you that when Afenifere speaks, APC is not going to delude itself that the entire Yoruba people have spoken.
“And that was the same stand we took when Ohaneze spoke and pretended that it was representing the good people of the South East, Ndigbo! So, we are not deluded by that. We welcome it. We thank them. We will take it along with us.
“But, no individual or group can claim to speak for an entire region of this country; in fact, APC is interested in the individual Nigerian, who sees tomorrow, saw yesterday and compare and be truthful to himself/herself. That is the person we are talking to,” he noted.
The APC spokesperson equally reacted to the report from the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), that President Muhammadu Buhari is not mentally fit to continue to pilot the affairs of the country.
“The so-called CUPP doesn’t deserve a response because in recent time they don’t exist. They appeared to be people who are looking for space to team up with Atiku who promised that when he gets to power they will continue where they stopped.
“You will recall that in 2015, an issue like this arose and if the scenario then was different. We can understand the reason this time around. It is crystal clear that this coming election is going to be a disaster for the PDP and all other efforts to scuttle the process; all efforts to blackmail the institutions that are responsible for the conduct of election including providing security, all efforts to smear the image of the president, all that they have thrown at us and well-meaning Nigerians, have all failed.
“So, you can also say this is another effort which will also go to nothing. The president is hale and hearty. They started by saying that the president was going to pass on his responsibility to campaign to the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“That he was not fit enough to go round the country with the people he has been working hard for the past three and a half years to improve their livelihood. But, they have been proved wrong more than their so-called healthy presidential candidate. The president has gone around the country and as I speak, he is in Kano before a massive crowd never seen before.
“He has gone to land where ordinarily you don’t expect him to land. And he got a massive welcome. So, we can understand where this headache is coming from. You don’t require any further proof from the president who insisted that he would visit the entire 36 states of the federation. It is a miracle to them but we will tell them that God is involved in a thing like this and how it looks,” he said.