President Muhammadu Buhari has formally congratulated the Abdullahi Adamu-led 79-member National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress, APC, that emerged at the just concluded convention in Abuja, saying that the unity of members put on display puts the party on a firmer footing for victory in next year, 2023, General Elections.

This is a statement the President issued about 10 hours ago when the most serious and attention driven crisis in Kaduna is yet to get the president public statement as many feared the way the terrorists have organized multiple attacks during the preceding week with over 200 of the terror bandits invading the Kaduna International Airport on same day the APC national convention was ongoing says the obvious if left unchecked, Kaduna, a home where most Nigeria soldiers are trained may fall under the control of terrorists soon.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, confirmed the attack on the Kaduna Airport by terrorists on Saturday.

NAMA identified the person killed during the attack as Shehu Na’Allah, a security guard attached to the Kaduna International Airport.

Manager of the Airport, Mrs Amina Salami, said that the bandits invaded the airport through the perimeter fence from a nearby forest at about 1pm on Saturday afternoon, and started shooting sporadically to scare the workers.

The terrorists attacked the Kaduna International Airport located in Igabi Local Government Area.

The attackers, numbering over 200 were said to have taken over the airport.

It was also gathered that an aircraft scheduled to take off for Lagos at 12:30pm could not fly as a result of the presence of the terrorists at the runway of the airport.

Also, a Point of Sale ( POS ) operator and 2 other locals were in hospital following an explosion that rocked the Danmani Community on the outskirts of Kaduna City.

Danmani community near  Rigasa was  in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Terrorists had killed 50 residents and abducted over 100 in a fresh attack on the Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

It was gathered that the terrorists invaded nine villages in the local government, burning vehicles and buildings, including a church.

Some residents said they sighted the attackers on Friday and by the early hours of Friday, the terrorists have stormed the affected villages, killed no fewer than 50 people and razed houses including, a church as well as rustled cows and burnt close to 30 vehicles.

The villages are Unguwar Kaya Fatika, Barebare, Dillalai, Zango Tama, Unguwar Bakko, Gidan Alhajin Kadi, Kadanya and Duromi.

Meanwhile, a statement from one of the presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu indicated that while the attack on Kaduna was ongoing on Saturday, President Muhammadu Buhari who returned to the APC Convention ground at the Eagle Square, Sunday morning, along with the Vice President and the Senate President to witness and celebrate the inauguration of the elected party executives, remarked that the smooth conduct of the election raises the prospect of a mouth-watering APC victory next year.

“The APC Convention hosted this weekend sets the scene for an APC victory in the presidential and general elections next year. It is a victory over naysayers who believed the party was divided but are now disappointed,” said the President.

“We believe that it is equally a victory for the president who has ensured unity across all party positions; and it is a victory for the voters of Nigeria who can now be assured of a smooth succession to new leadership in 2023.

“What the Convention made clear was how the media has been peddling fake news of division, when the hard reality of unity, cohesion, and indeed personal warmth between members of the party’s leaders – incoming and outgoing – was evident for all to see.

“Of course, the blame for this mindset ought rightly to go to the opposition who in all these years had done the work to only divide the country, leading to all manner of separatist agitations. But this is not the wish, nor is it in the character of the citizens, as was clear for everyone to see at the Eagle Square.

“When their fake news of disunity was undone by the facts, some in the opposition could not help themselves but take to the newspapers and the airwaves to find another way to shore up their reputations.

“That some of the APC’s new leadership were once in the opposition was the new line to take to the media, somehow suggesting that those who have left one party should not hold positions in another. Yet, do the Scriptures not teach us of the virtue of sinners who repent and change their ways?

“What the Scriptures say less is of sinners who repent, change their tune, and then choose to re-sin in full public view by returning to their former ways.

“Given that most important leaders of the opposition PDP first left the party before they returned to it, we might expect the media to ensure criticism of them is damning and absolute.

“It is incredulous that anyone would consider them trustworthy or acceptable candidates for any public office.

“The stage is now set for the APC primary elections later this year when the party’s new flag bearers will emerge.

“No doubt some will attempt to argue the impossible – that an APC primary election is a source of division while an opposition primary election is a source of consensus.

“But the good voters of Nigeria can see through such acrobatics and know the facts that, when the contests for 2023 come, APC offers a track record of success and leadership, while the opposition has only decades of failure and complicity in response”, the Presidential statement reads.