By Femi Adesina

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday urged eligible voters in Yobe State and the northeastern part of the country to ensure that his party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is elected in the forthcoming general elections.

Speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally at August 27 Stadium in Damaturu, the President said a vote for Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, would guarantee the sustenance of progress made in the security, economy and education sectors of the country.

The President vowed that following the victory against terrorists in the region, the APC-led government is more than ever before energized to defeat whoever threatens the unity of Nigeria.

The President, who addressed the mammoth crowd in Hausa language, recounted how Boko Haram inflicted damage on the people, their property and the economy, before their decimation by Nigeria Armed Forces and security agencies.

Emphasizing the need for education in countering the despicable ideology of Boko Haram, the President told parents and guardians in Yobe:

‘‘Make sure you send your children to school and make them understand that whatever you have in this world can be taken away from you except the knowledge you have in your head.

‘‘I was an orphan; I did not know my father. I spent nine years in a boarding school and because of education, I was enlisted into the Nigerian Army.

‘‘I want you to strengthen your faith, try your best to uphold the children and family God has entrusted to you. Do not betray that trust’’

To the APC flagbearers in the forthcoming general elections, President Buhari challenged them to ensure good governance when elected and not to disappoint the electorate.

He declared that the governing party has done its utmost in the last eight years at the Federal level and would continue to ensure the progress, prosperity and stability of Nigeria.

In his remarks, the presidential candidate of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urged Nigerians to reject the lies peddled by the opposition parties on the Buhari-led administration.

‘‘This government is a government of progress, integrity and honesty,’’ he said.

The APC Presidential candidate, who lauded Buhari for the return of peace and normalcy in the Northeast region of the country, promised that his government would turn the region into the Agro-allied processing Centre of Nigeria.

‘‘We will give you good jobs that you can depend on. Agriculture will come back. Hunger will go away. We will give you what is necessary, consumer credit to build houses and roofs over your heads,’’ he said.

Tinubu also promised to make the perennial ASUU strikes history, adding that undergraduates will not need to spend extra years in the university beyond the standard duration of course of study.

He, therefore, urged the people of Yobe and Northeast Nigeria to vote APC candidates in the general elections, assuring that Nigeria economic prosperity will blossom under his watch.

Senate President Ahmed Lawan promised that APC would win every contestable seat in Yobe State, because President Buhari has done wonderfully well in the seven and half years he has been in office.

He accused PDP of destroying Nigeria during its 16 years in power, saying ‘‘they should be ashamed of themselves and have no right to go around Nigeria seeking for votes.’’

‘‘We are all Buharists and that Buharism- integrity and love for country-will continue when you (President Buhari) hand over to Asiwaju,’’ Lawan said at the presidential campaign rally attended by all the APC governors from the region, the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, the Vice Presidential Candidate, Shettima as well as Plateau State Governor and Director General of the Presidential Campaign Council, Simon Lalong, among others.

@views exclusive rights: Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, January 10, 2023.