We will re-elect Buhari for Nigeria’s sake – Tinubu

Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said President Muhammadu Buhari will be re-elected for a second...

Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said President Muhammadu Buhari will be re-elected for a second term in 2019, for the sake of Nigeria.

Mr Tinubu, who was speaking, Friday, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, during the flag-off of the APC presidential campaign, said Mr Buhari represents "continuity of hope" and "continuity of development."

"Our president is seeking re-election. For the sake of this country, we will re-elect Muhammadu Buhari," said Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state and an influential politician in the South-west of the country.

"We will re-elect an APC government that will give you hope, that will give you a diversified economy," he said to the large crowd at the 30,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo.

Mr Tinubu described the past Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administrations in Nigeria as "16 years of darkness".

He said PDP ran a "corrosive economy" for 16 years.

"We are strongly determined to change the course and redirect governance in this country. That is what Muhammadu Buhari is all about and that is what APC is determined to do.

"We are building on a new foundation, and that foundation is for you – the youth, the women, and the elderly – and tomorrow's children.

"If PDP had concentrate on only one item – electricity for industrialisation – it would have been better.

"Corruption is cancer to development in this country, and we will continue to fight it, together. We will continue to renew the hope of Nigerians and build a greater nation.

"No, you can't come back PDP," Mr Tinubu said.

The former governor zeroed in on Akwa Ibom politics, in his remarks.

He said "happiness has frozen" in the state since Godswill Akpabio finished his tenure as Akwa Ibom governor.

"We are waiting for Nsima Ekere (the Akwa Ibom APC governorship candidate) to take over and shift the direction," he said.

Mr Buhari, who was present in Uyo to flag off the campaign, promised not to fail Nigerians if he is re-elected.

"I assure you that you will not regret trusting us," Mr Buhari said. "We are going to secure this country, we are going to manage it properly. We are going to stop corruption."

The APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, is his remarks at the event, said Mr Buhari was a "man of impeccable integrity, one that is celebrated by fellow world leaders.

"The president who can go to America and stand with President Obama and President Trump, not those who can't get visa outside Nigeria."

Mr Oshiomhole added, "Mr President, we are honoured that you are flagging off your campaign in the South-south geo-political zone.

"They have been looking for mud to throw at your person. The more they do it, the more the people laugh at them. Nigerians know who you are. The world knows who you are. Nigerians also know who they are."