The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu on Wednesday made a brief appearance at a campaign rally in Minna, the Niger State capital but he failed to deliver a speech.
The event happened at the Trade Fair Complex in Minna, the state capital and drew a crowd that gathered to catch a glimpse of the former Lagos governor.
However, unlike previous campaigns of recent, Tinubu made a brief appearance in the North-Central state and he failed to deliver a speech.
As early as 7 am on Wednesday, a crowd of party faithful had thronged the venue of the campaign awaiting Tinubu’s arrival. Shortly after his arrival, there were cheers from the crowd.
On mounting the podium, the APC candidate shouted, ‘Niger Sai Bagode,’ with a brief response from the ecstatic crowd. The APC candidate thereafter returned to his seat, a situation that made the Master of Ceremony announce the end of the campaign in Niger State. The whole scenario played out within seven minutes.
The rally was attended by Vice Presidential Candidate, Kashim Shettima, Senate President, Dr Ahmed Lawan and several governors of the party including Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano) and Simon Bako Lalong (Plateau) who is also the Director-General of the campaign.
Also in attendance were former governors Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara) and the party’s governorship candidate in Niger State, Muhammed Umar Bago.
Shortly after the rally, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s National Chairman, joined the campaign entourage.
Thereafter, the APC presidential candidate paid a courtesy call on the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Farouk Bahago, and inaugurated two campaign offices donated by Senator Sani Musa Mohammed and Alhaji Mohammed Idris.
This is coming a day after Tinubu campaigned in Kaduna State where he promised to eliminate kidnappers and other “troublemakers” terrorising Kaduna State in North-West Nigeria.
“All those troublemakers, violent kidnappers, killers; all troublemakers who are (disturbing the) security of Kaduna, I assure you, we will eliminate them,” he said at the APC North-West Presidential Campaign Rally in Kaduna on Tuesday.
Kaduna, one of the seven states in the North-West geopolitical zone, has recorded increasing bandit and terrorist attacks in the last two years including the infamous infiltration of the Nigerian Defence Academy on August 24, 2021, and the dastard attack on a moving train on March 28, 2022.
The Kaduna State Government said 1,192 persons were killed by bandits and other violent groups in 2021 while over 3,000 residents, students, and travellers were kidnapped. So far, over 800 people have been killed by bandits, and more than 1,200 persons kidnapped in Kaduna between January and September 2022, according to official data.
Meanwhile, APC debunked the rumours that its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was rushed off the stage at his rally in Minna, Niger State, due to health concerns.
Bayo Onanuga, the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, said this in a statement shared on Tinubu/Shettima’s official campaign website.
Onanuga said Tinubu left the rally early on Wednesday, December 14, to attend to other programmes of the day.
According to Onanuga, the crowd that turned up to welcome Tinubu at the rally was so massive that the former governor of Lagos State had to address them briefly.
The statement read, “A massive crowd of APC supporters welcomed the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to Minna on Wednesday, as he arrived for the mega rally.
“The cheering crowd was unprecedented, according to journalists at the Trade Fair Complex, the venue of the rally.
“Tinubu, who held another successful rally in Kaduna on Tuesday, arrived in Minna in the evening of the same day for a series of meetings with APC leaders.
“The crowd was so huge that Tinubu spoke briefly to appreciate the supporters and identified the party candidates seeking elective positions.
“Contrary to the rumours that he was rushed off stage because of health concerns, Tinubu cut it short to attend to other programmes of the day.
“He commended the party supporters for coming out en masse to witness the flag off of the presidential campaign.”
