We Need Not Worry About PDP, We’re Not Equals

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at the weekend, told members of his party that they needed not to worry about the posturing of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), because they were not equals in the first place and by all standards.

Tinubu, who spoke at the unveiling of the Tinubu/Shettima door-to-door campaign group in Abuja, however,  wondered how and why the PDP was still in existence, despite its alleged failure as a government that was in power for sixteen years.

Also, speaking at the event, the APC vice-presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima, boasted that if elected in 2023, their presidency would turn the country into an industrial nation in order to turn the tide of the current economic downturn.

But replying Tinubu, the PDP has told the APC presidential candidate to stop grandstanding and first address allegations bordering on his multiple name changes, alleged disparity in his age and educational qualifications.

In another development, the Imo State Governor and member of the APC, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has told the Igbo to forget the presidency in 2023, and that they could only produce a president of their extraction whenever they found peace with Nigeria.

Tinubu, described the PDP as a party that lacked direction, urged members of his party not to be bothered about the opposition. “We are not just the ones to hurl abuses and insults at our rivals’ party. We don’t need it. We are smarter; we are brilliant; we are courageous; we are not like them.

“They spent 16 years and forgot that there is a railway infrastructure that can do haulage, human carriage, animal husbandry and food carriage across the length and breadth of the country.

“They (PDP) got there and turned it to an incubator. I wonder why they still exist as a party. These are people still fighting for leadership of their party, looking for the direction of the compass. We are not equal at all; we are smarter. We know the road; let them follow.

“We don’t need to worry about PDP — poverty development party. Today, let’s lower the temperature. It’s not the time to campaign yet. They will hear a lot from us.

“We are the party of progressive ideas. We want good education for our children, good development for Nigeria, prosperity for this country, agricultural and agro-allied projects to be embarked upon,” he said.

Addressing the APC plans for Nigeria, Tinubu said the party, had the solution to the country’s problems, and that it was strategising to tackle the challenges.

According to him, “We have the confidence that, we have what it takes. We have the courage, determination, perseverance and foresight to identify the problems of Nigeria and tackle them headlong and make a solution out of them for the prosperity of your children. We will guarantee tomorrow, jobs for your grandchildren, and the progress of tomorrow.

“All we are doing is strategising, calculating and organising ourselves to confront the challenge before us.”

On his part, while noting that Tinubu’s presidency would turn Nigeria into an industrialised nation, Shettima said, “We are on the threshold of making history. The global economy is tilting towards recession because the world has moved from the agricultural age to the industrial age.

“We have moved from the industrial age to the knowledge-driven age. People are now talking of big data of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and open biotechnology. Who among the presidential candidates we have here in this country has the skill set, the intellect, the capacity to move this nation greater than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu?”