The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a party of “termites”.
Mr Tinubu vowed that the main opposition party will not return to power in next year’s election.
The APC presidential candidate said PDP failed to fight the infrastructure battle as the ruling party for 16 years.
Tinubu spoke at the inauguration of the Tinubu-Shettima Women Presidential Campaign Team hosted by First Lady Aisha Buhari at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, urged party chieftains to take advantage of the huge women population and seek votes from the nook and crannies of the country.
The First lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, who is the leader of the APC Women Campaign Team, urged women and youths to unite and collectively work for the victory of the party.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), the wife of the flag bearer, described the Tinubu-Shettima ticket as the best option for Nigerians in 2023.
The Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong advised the women to avoid character assassination, hate speech and propaganda during the campaign.
APC women leaders and representatives from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) converged on the venue where National Chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu said the votes of women will be a critical factor in next year’s poll.
The ceremony was witnessed by Governors Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), APC Women Leader Beta Edu, and Nollywood actress Joke Silva.
Hailing the women for their unity of purpose and dedication, Tinubu said he entered the race to give hope to Nigerians.
He said: “To the women gathered here today, help is here, hope is here, assurance is here, the promise is here, prosperity is here, security is here. Banditry has ended, hopelessness is not part of our dictionary; we are confident people, unity is here; diversity is here; prosperity is here.
“As Nigerians, we’re not going to give up. The sign on this cap is ‘broken shackles’. You break the shackle of poverty, break the shackle of ignorance, break the shackle of destitution, break the shackles of failures. God will bless us. We will break that shackle, we will succeed as Nigerians”.
Tinubu praised President Buhari for repositioning the country, stressing that he liberated Nigeria from a state of hopelessness across the sectors.
Urging Nigerians to reject the PDP at the poll, he said: “16 years of rudderlessness, of digging the hole of indebtedness of PDP. Never again shall they come back. Who are they? They are looters. Who are they? They are squanderers. Go out there and tell them, a new hope is here. Tell them you’re following the man who knows the way; tell them you’re following the builder ”.
Mrs Buhari explained that her committee had to extract assurances of more women inclusion in the next administration by signing a pact with the party leadership ahead of the polls
She said: “Permit to voice out our concerns for the progressive decline in the involvement and participation of women in elective and appointive positions at all the three tiers of government. Our clamours and cries over the years have remained unattended to, especially at the levels of the legislative arm of government.
“For this reason, our movement has no option than to ask the party leadership to sign a pact with Nigerian women. We have no option than to sign a pact with Nigerian women that will spell out the good policies of the party towards women for documentation and follow-up purposes.
“Women will begin their assignments with one target in mind: “deliver the presidency of APC in 2023. This is attainable because it has been done twice in 2015 and 2019.”
Lalong urged the women to avoid character assassination, hate speech and propaganda, adding that they should be engaged in issues-based campaigns.
“Leave that to the opposition and stay with the achievements of our party in women empowerment and also tell them that under the Presidency of Bola Tinubu, Nigerian women and their children will have an even better deal.”
He urged the women to “go all over Nigeria, particularly into the grassroots’ and sell the agenda and vision of Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, whose pedigree for women empowerment is widely known.”
Lalong said the PCC will support and monitor the activities of the Tinubu/Shettima team to ensure that its objectives and those of the party are achieved.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu said the Tinubu-Shettima presidency will be the “best option” for Nigerian women.
She said, “the track record of both men (Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima) are gender sensitive”.
She also called on the over 1,250 women in attendance to mobilise votes for the APC flag bearer in their various constituencies.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, had demanded 40% of federal appointive positions for women, as compensation for their contributions and support for the APC since 2015.
She said with women occupying 40% of appointive positions, the country will be set for balanced leadership.
Buhari gave an insight into how the APC should conduct itself to retain its winning streak in 2023.
The President urged the party to take the advantage of the huge women population and take campaigns to the most remote parts of the country.
He mandated the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Women’s Affairs to work with the Office of the First Lady to come up with bills before the National Assembly to ensure women receive just recognition for their contributions to society.
Buhari called attention to the potential of women voters, highlighting the sheer number of votes they contributed in the last two elections.
He said: “Considering the strategic role women have played in APC victories, we call on you once again to begin organizing and mobilizing vigorously the electorate at all levels for APC victory at the 2023 polls through the committee in an inclusive and cooperative manner.
“In the 2015 general elections, about 3.6 million housewives voted in the presidential election. And this figure ranks third next to about 4.4 million students in the 2019 general elections. Women accounted for 47 per cent, almost 40 million of the 84 million registered voters throughout the nation.
“We must continuously co-opt and make significant in-road into these demographic and voting segments.
“The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently made a projection that Nigeria’s voting population could be as much as 95 million for the 2023 general elections. For statisticians in the room, you can imagine what that means in terms of potential votes that women could bring to the table.
“Counting today, we are left with approximately 137 days before the Presidential and National Assembly elections, which is scheduled for the 25th of February, 2023. Out of the 36 states of the federation, 30 states will be holding their gubernatorial elections on the 11th of March. The mission that lays ahead of the committee is very clear and time is not on your side”.
The President warned that the real work in getting votes is not in Abuja, but in the over 8,000 wards across the country.
He stressed: “As this launch is being hosted in Abuja, we must remember that the real war lies in far-flung places away from Abuja. The task ahead lies in over 8000 wards and 774 local governments across the country, where party faithful will have to make a case before fellow citizens on our party’s candidate articulating the vision and the programme for the country.
“The campaign, therefore, should resist the temptation for it to be turned into an Abuja-centric activity but establish the connection between the voting public and our presidential candidate, and for other candidates for offices throughout Nigeria, that should be the ultimate objective”.
Buhari urged women to extend same commitment they had shown him all along to the flagbearer of the party and his team.=
He said: “Throughout my political journey and my tenure as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, women have remained the most loyal and supportive group in my mission for a better Nigeria despite the challenges. They should extend this same support to our presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Vice Presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima.
“As we prepare for the 2023 general elections, my administration has continued to listen to the strong voices of our women for gender justice, social inclusion, and adequate participation in the affairs of their country and in accordance with global, regional, and national conventions, agreements, protocols, and policies to which Nigeria is a signatory”.
President Buhari added: “It is in this regard that I hereby direct the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice in conjunction with the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs to work closely with the Office of the First Lady in ensuring that important legislation that can be brought before the National Assembly in furtherance of entrenching constitutional change and legal change and creating a level playing field for our women to be carried out assiduously”.
