The Allied People’s Movement (APM) Presidential Campaign Organisation has told President Bola Tinubu to withdraw from the presidential race if he is too tired to go round the country to campaign.
The Director, Strategic Communications of the Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO), Richard Ihediwa, in a statement on Thursday, said Nigerians are not ready to continue with an absentee and lethargic president that lacks the capacity and capability to lead from the front.
President Tinubu had at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja on Wednesday, said he would not go round the 36 states of the country and Abuja to campaign because he would not abandon governance for election.
But the MDPCO said the decision does not only constitute serious affront to the Nigerian electorate, but makes a caricature of democratic ethos.
“Besides, Mr. President’s decision and his confabulatory statement further confirm fears by Nigerians that he is not fit to face the rigours of governing a nation like Nigeria,” the campaign organisation stated.
It added that if President Tinubu is truly concerned about governance as he claimed, he would not have been globe-trothing and staying away from the theater of governance.
Instead, MDPCO said President Tinubu is scared of being jeered and disgraced by Nigerians over his abysmal failures in office, “hence his cowardly decision not to go around the country to campaign, which is an aberration in a democracy.”
According to the campaign organisation, a president who believes he has performed well should be confident to defend his record before the people.
“However, having failed in all of his promises and having no meaningful achievements to boast of, President Tinubu is now fishing for excuses not to face the people,” the MDPCO said.
It added that Tinubu cannot continue to demand another mandate without coming out to campaign and account for the conditions under which Nigerians currently live.
The campaign organisation reminded the president that he told Nigerians not to vote for him in 2027 if he fails to fix electricity in the country.
“Today, electricity has become more epileptic and Nigerians pay 10 times higher the amount they paid on tariff before this administration.
“President Tinubu promised jobs and economic prosperity. Painfully, under his watch Nigeria has descended abysmally into economic deprivation and misery with more than 140 million citizens plunged into abject poverty and unable to afford their daily meals and other essentials of life.
“The reckless removal of petrol subsidy, poorly executed floatation of the Naira and other policies without adequate protection for vulnerable citizens has plunged millions of households into punishing hardship.
“Hunger has intensified, purchasing power has eroded, and poverty has become an unbearable reality for countless Nigerians.
“The administration’s economic prescriptions have imposed enormous sacrifices on citizens without delivering the relief and prosperity they were promised.
“President Tinubu also promised to ensure more effective security, but sadly under his ineffective watch, terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal elements are having a field day ravaging our country, killing thousands of compatriots and holding many more hostage.
“The monumental failures in security, economic management and governance explain why, President Tinubu is reluctant to take his re-election campaign directly to Nigerians,” the Makinde campaign said, adding that his government has renewed the “anger” of Nigerians, rather than their “hope” in the past three and half years.
It alleged that yhe decision not to campaign around the country reinforces public apprehension that the APC is not ready for a free, fair and credible election but plotting to circumvent and compromise the process against the will of the people.
MDPCO said Nigerians now desire a youthful, energetic and active president with stamina for leadership, which it added, is found in the APM presidential candidate, Engr Seyi Makinde, “whose RESET NIGERIA Agenda offers solutions for the security, economic and social challenges confronting our nation.”
The campaign organisation stated that Makinde is competent, resourceful and has been going round the country, meeting with the people, vigorously campaigning and soliciting for votes with his sterling record of achievements and vision for the nation under the RESET NIGERIA Agenda.
“President Tinubu should therefore spare himself the embarrassment of rejection by withdrawing from the Presidential race.
“The presidency is not an entitlement, and seeking re-election must come with a willingness to account for one’s record before the electorate,” the MDPCO said.
