.. Drags Akinlade, APM Candidate to Pay Homage to President
… Buhari Not Averse to Candidates From Other Parties–Presidency
In what might appear to be a new political strategy, Ogun Governor Ibikunle Amosun on Sunday took the APM Governorship Candidate in his state Hon. Adekunle Akinlade to pay homage to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Both visitors were received at the private residence of the President at about noon.
Amosun seized the opportunity to pledge that his state, Ogun would vote massively for the President in the forth coming Presidential polls.
According to the Governor, who is almost rounding up his second term, Buhari has nothing to bother about as his impact in infrastructure and social welfare programmes was all that mattered to guarantee him another term.
Prior to the Christmas festivities Amosun had also led Akinlade to the President where they intimated him that the party had adopted him as their Presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections.
The governor said, “We came to formally say happy new year to Mr President and to reassure him of our unalloyed support, to also tell him that in the coming elections in the contest of South West Ogun State will not be left behind.
“We are going to give him massive votes that have never been seen in the history of Ogun State. That is what we are here to reassure him of and ofcourse you see the Candidate of APM with me, yes this is not the first time we are coming to say hello to Mr President, but this is a new year and we just think it would be appropriate, particularly we all know we are working hand in hand with Mr President to make sure that he wins the State.
“As I said the last time that we are not God but I know that Mr President has already won the coming election because his work speaks for him
Mr President doesn’t need to still run around ,his work is everywhere.
“Infrastructures are now in place and gradually Mr President is bringing back the middle class the revolution, with the revolution he is bringing to bear in agriculture, all the social safety nets that he is bringing on board, N power, GEEP, Market money and many others.
“People that ordinarily have been running around begging for money are now employers of labour themselves and that is the way to go if we must get it right as a nation. So in all fronts Mr President has done well, he will still do well and is poised to do more for Nigeria.
He came in with what I called three pronged promises and he has worked his talk despite all odds. Most of the discussions we had even today centred on Nigeria, how he want everything to be done I was even saying to him that with what you have done you have demostrated that we have turned the bend and very soon we will get there”.
On his part, Akinlade said his perception of the President is that of a father figure, one that was sincere and down to earth.
“He is a very wonderful person and someone that I have deep respect for and as a father of the nation I must say very clearly that I am impressed with what I saw very down to earth human being, “he stated.
Recall that Amosun switched support for the APM candidate after he and his Imo state counterpart, Rochas Okorocha fell out with the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole during the recent primary elections that was to produce candidates for the party.
While Okorocha favoured his son in law Uche Nwosu to succeed him, Adams was said to have allegedly denied him the privilege, a development that prompted Nwosu to decamp to the Action Alliance AA.
But in a reaction to the visit, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said Buhari was not averse to any candidate coming from the opposition but that the underlining interest was to garner as much vote as possible for the President.
He said Buhari would campaign for All APC candidate irrespective of playing host to the APM candidate.
His words, “Following repeated media enquiries on the matter, the Presidency wishes to state in clear and unmistakable terms that as a party leader and a candidate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the coming elections, President Muhammadu Buhari will campaign for the party and all its candidates.
“This however does not mean that he, as the nation’s leader, will decline courtesy calls or offers of support from citizens including candidates flying the flags of other parties.
“There is no doubt that the President has no competition here in terms of popularity in the coming elections. But the more support he gets, the wider the margin of victory there will be.
So please let there be no confusion about this. President Buhari is APC. He will campaign for all APC candidates, but he welcomes support and endorsements”
