…Sets Up Canvassers in 2,000 Wards

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest geo-political zone on Wednesday said the coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is populated by politicians who have failed Nigerians before.

Also, the Zonal Executive of the party promised to set up canvassers in the 2,000 political wards in the zone to project the activities of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.

Addressing the media after the zonal executive meeting of the party held in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the Zonal Chairman of the party, Hon Duerimini Isaacs Kekemeke, said that as much as a coalition is good for democracy, those in the present coalition are known to Nigerians as people who have failed them before.

Kekemeke said the zonal executive met to discuss how they would recruit canvassers in all wards across all states in the Southwest in preparation for the 2027 presidential election.

He explained that the canvassers would avail the people at the grassroots level and all wards the efforts and results of President Tinubu’s socio-economic politicizes and programmes for the development of the federation.

Kekemeke explained that the committee had assessed and evaluated the economic policies and various programmes being introduced and implemented by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government and discovered that he had done creditably well.

He disclosed that they also based their verdict on the comments and assessments of experts, international organisations, and international financial institutions on President Tinubu’s performances across different sectors, which were positive.

The zonal executive gave President Tinubu a pass mark, saying he deserved a second term in office to consolidate what he is currently doing.

Though Kekemeke said the committee acknowledged the challenges being faced by Nigerians, he noted that they would soon be a thing of the past.

His words: “The Zonal Executive Committee of All Progressives Congress (APC), which includes the six chairmen of the party in the zone and National Executive Council (NEC) members of the party in the zone, met today in Akure and they deliberated extensively on the state of the party in the zone.

“The party set up a committee to work with the coordinating governor of the party in the zone, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, and other governors in the zone to organise a rally, an assembly, or a congress of the zone, which is tentatively scheduled for the end of September.

“A committee has, therefore, been set up to work out a modality for that congress. Obviously, apart from discussing the activities of the party in the entire zone, the committee would come up with modalities for working for the second term of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

“Our goal is that the Southwest must do to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu electorally what the Northwest consistently did for the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Two. The officers of the zone(Southwest) had decided to appoint canvassers for President Tinubu in about 2000 electoral wards in the Southwest zone.

“We cannot wait because we believe that as the zone of the President, we must lead the crusade for his re-election.

“The zonal executives also appraised the performances of the President and came up with the conclusion that, even though the zone recognizes the pain of the people, it is convinced that the President has done so well for the people as attested to by the international committee, international financial institutions, economic experts and by all those which you know.

“They are beginning to feel the results of the bold initiative and socio-economic transformation that is happening in Nigeria. Prices of things are beginning to stabilise and coming down, the foreign exchange is coming down, debts are being paid and Nigeria is becoming internationally respectable.

“Nigeria refused, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to become a dumping ground for refugees of some Americans, and Nigeria was respected as one country that stood up and said NO.

“So, there is international respectability for Nigeria both politically and economically, and we think that all of these must be consolidated.

“There must be consolidation of this tenure so that after President Tinubu’s eight years, Nigeria can continue to march forward.

“So, we are convinced that the President is the best thing that has happened to our country, even though we acknowledge that these reforms have brought about pains that we believe are temporary for our citizens and for the people of the Southwest.

“We believe that in not distant time, these pains will pave the way and will give way to prosperity and peace in our country.”

XXXX Speaking on the ongoing coalition being formed by some strong politicians in the country ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Kekemeke described the development as one of the requirements of a standard democracy.

He quickly dismissed the brains behind the coalition as politicians who had failed the nation in the past after being given the opportunity three times.

The APC chieftain said, “I think that this coalition is good for our country because a viable opposition is one of the requirements of a standard democracy.
So, it is good that they have come together.

“But this coalition of politicians cannot win against the coalition of Nigeria and the coalition of people who know that President Tinubu at this time is doing the best for our country.

“My own view is that this is not a coalition of untested people; they are people who have been tested and have failed, failed, and failed. If people have been tested and have failed over time, it will be terrible for Nigerians to abandon someone who is setting Nigeria on the path to greatness and go back to people who have failed.

“They are not people who have not been given a first chance, failed, a second chance, failed, and a third chance, failed. They are a committee of people who have failed in time past and in the very recent past.

“They are people who have not been able to accredit themselves credibly in the areas that they have been asked to work. They are not people who have something to show.

“I will give you an example of what I mean. When we were campaigning for President Tinubu, we had a Lagos record to show. We say that we want President Tinubu to do to Nigeria what he did to Lagos.

“So let these coalition people, each of them, tell us what they did before that they want to do to Nigeria. And if we now look at what each of them did in their previous offices, they are very undesirable.

“But it is good that they are adding to the beauty of democracy by trying and pretending to be a viral opposition.”