The Presidency has addressed an allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari is not campaigning for the All Progressives Congress’ presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
There has been anxiety that Buhari is aloof, while telling Nigerians to vote for candidates of their choice, rather than selling his party’s men.
While northern leaders such as Governors Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Nasir el-Rufai of Kano and Aminu Masari of Katsina have been phenomenal in the way they have been selling Tinubu to the North, Buhari, with his deified ’12 million voters’ has not been seen to be involved, whereas Tinubu was a roaring force in his victories.
But ahead of the February 2023 elections, the Presidency on Wednesday said the President would campaign for the Tinubu and all candidates of the All Progressives Congress with “full energy and conviction.”
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, revealed this in a statement he signed on Wednesday titled ‘President Buhari ready to campaign for Tinubu and all APC candidates with energy and conviction.’
According to Shehu, the President “assures the All Progressives Congress and its candidates in the elections next year that he is ready at all times to campaign for the Presidential Candidate and all party candidates with “full energy and conviction.”
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“This is to dispel expressed concerns in certain quarters that the President has not featured in campaigns since the national launch in Jos, Plateau State and to stress that while he remains committed to party politics, the functions and duties of the President will equally be upheld at times.”
Citing the President’s remarks to the Nigerian community in Washington DC in the course of his recent visit to the United States, the Presidency said Buhari “is ready to campaign for the party’s victory in the general elections next year.”
The President noted that the APC campaigns have so far been the most aggressive in recent history.
“‘They have been impressive and of a high voltage,’ compared to the opposition that seems to be playing catch-up. He expressed strong optimism that the party will win all the elections fairly and squarely,’ the statement read.
