President Muhammadu Buhari will today lead members and supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to unveil the “Renewed Hope, Action Plan” of the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Asiwaju Tinubu, his running mate, Senator Kashim Shetimma, and the party’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, will lead members of the National Working Committee (NWC) for the campaign.
Also expected are members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and party supporters in the Northeast.
President Buhari who, on November 15, last year, kicked off the APC presidential campaign in Jos, the Plateau State capital, will today join the train and lead the campaign henceforth in other states before the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
Sources at the Presidential Villa said an advance team from the elite guard in the Presidency had arrived Yola since Saturday for surveillance on the campaign venue near the Yola Airport.
It was also gathered that President Buhari will tomorrow lead the APC Presidential Campaign Council to Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.
In a statement on Friday, the party’s Director of Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo (SAN), said President Buhari was prepared to be physically present at some of the party’s forthcoming presidential campaign rallies.
The states are: Adamawa State on January 9; Yobe State on January 10; Sokoto State on January 16; Kwara State on January 17; Ogun State on January 25; Cross Rivers State on January 30; Nassarawa State on February 4; Katsina State on February 6; Imo State on February 14; and the Grand Finale in Lagos State on February 18.
“The PCC expresses its profound gratitude to President Buhari, the leader of our great party, for his sterling and inspirational leadership at this time and for galvanising our teeming members and supporters across the country.”
Keyamo urged the party’s members and supporters to turn out en mass for the campaign rallies. “The zero hours is nigh; our spirits must be high; we must not relent in this our collective march to our victory that is divinely ordained,” he added.
Also, a new site has been prepared for the APC presidential campaign in Yola, following the disagreement between the party and the state government over the original venue, Ribadu Square.
Both sides had disagreed over the use of the original venue for the APC presidential campaign.
The state government, under main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had declined the use of Mahmud Ribadu Square.
This led the APC to look for an alternative venue near the Yola Airport.
The new venue, named Muhammadu Buhari Square, is a virgin land which the ruling party at the centre cleared and decorated to host Mr. President and the campaign rally.
When our correspondent visited the new venue yesterday, the large portion of the land was almost ready.
Though work was still ongoing around 2.40 p.m, a number of the pavilions had been erected and a podium was being built.
Also, the Yobe State government has said it had completed arrangements to host President Muhammadu Buhari today.
Home Affairs, Information and Culture Commissioner Muhammed Lamin announced this in a statement at the weekend in Damaturu, the state capital.
“We are fully prepared to receive our President on a one-day working visit to our dear state,” he said.
The commissioner said the President would inaugurate various projects executed by the Mai Mala Buni administration.
Also, security has been tightened in Damaturu ahead of President Buhari’s visit to Yobe today.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there has been heavy presence of police personnel and that of other security agencies at strategic locations in the state capital.
Police spokesman Dungus Abdulkarim, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), told NAN that operatives were fully equipped and ready to ensure peace and security in Damaturu before, during and after the visit.
Credit- Nation
