Former Lagos Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu says he’s in the race to become Nigeria’s next president because he wants to break the shackles holding down Nigerians.
Tinubu, who’s the presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stated this at the inauguration of the Tinubu-Shettima Women Presidential Campaign Team hosted by the wife of the president – Aisha Buhari – at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said he would break the shackles of poverty, destitution and ignorance in Nigeria if elected president next year.
“Let’s give solace to those who lost their lives and those in the hospitals, that God will heal all of them,” Tinubu said. “Let me say thank you to our men in uniform for the peace we have had so far, for the great news of the release of the (victims of) Kaduna train disaster.”
He added: “To the women gathered here today, help is here, hope is here, assurance is here, 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.
“That’s what we’ve come to promote; a nation blessed reward, we as Nigerians, we’re not going to give up. The sign in this cap is ‘broken shackles’, you break the shackle of poverty, break the shackle of ignorance, break the shackle of destitution, break shackles of failures. God will bless us. We will break that shackle, we will succeed as Nigerians.”
On the state of Nigeria when the APC took over government in 2015, Tinubu painted a picture of hopelessness, noting that President Buhari has worked hard to turn things around for the better.
He enjoined Nigerians never to allow a party such as the PDP to gain power again in the country.
The former senator assured his supporters they were in the right place as they were following a man who knows the right direction.
Tinubu said: “In the last eight years, it’s been a party that inherited a troublesome nation, under the weight of uncertainty. Then we brought change of government and Buhari took over with the least, the lowest production; 400,000 barrels of oil per day, the worst pricing of the crude oil.
“But still, the very determined, focused president was able to bail out even 36 states of this country who were not able to pay salaries, whose people were living in hunger. Give him a bravo. It’s easy to forget the situation that we found there.
“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. Tell them!”
