By Jude Opara, Abuja
The Forum of North Central of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday dismissed the coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC) of having the ability to cause any upset in the forthcoming 2027 presidential election.
Sunday Fagbemi, Chairman of the party in Kwara state who led his colleagues on a condolence visit on the National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda over the death of his mother said, the political history of most of those piloting the affairs of the ADC shows that they do not have what it takes to defeat the ruling party.
Fagbemi added that the APC is not even concerned about the election yet, insisting that what the party and its government led by President Bola Tinubu are focusing on presently is how to deliver on the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ and campaign promises of the administration.
“The issue of the new party, ADC, is like a vehicle with an old driver, old engine, the spare tyres are not even working. Why are we even bothering ourselves? It is the same old people. Is there anybody there that you don’t know? Is there anybody you cannot tell the story about him?
“We are here to commiserate with our new leader over the demise of our beloved mother. So, we came and condole him and patiently we are waiting for the date of the burial.
“The state of the nation is not about election. All that we are concerned about is the APC Renewed Hope Agenda. It means the deliverance of the campaign promise being embark or being promised by our able leader, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“And by the grace of God, we have seen some progress and development. We have seen him weathering the storm. We cannot do it alone because Rome was not build in a day. Even the opposition have attested that four years is not even enough to fix the scattered and tattered ship.
“So he has done a lot and enough in terms of economic recovery. All of us can attest to the fact that food stuff prices are going down daily. And it is because of the diversification. I am not talking about oil”.
Also in his remarks, Chairman of Nasarawa state chapter, Dr. Aliyu Bello said the country is already on the path of recovery because of the economic policies of the Tinubu administration, which he insisted are gradually yielding positive dividends.
“You cannot go to the CBN and become an emergency billionaire. The Naira has been floated. The economy is going on the right direction. So we are happy with what our leader is doing. And if you go to various states including the PDP states. They are so happy that the allocation they are getting now, is about three to fourt times what they were getting.
“The bold steps taken by our leader, President Tinubu is yielding results. We are good to go. Let us not be distracted. Before the next election commences, everything will be fine.
Nigeria is good to go for the APC. Because Nigeria’s project is something that is ongoing. And we cannot finish everything in one term. We trust the people that they have already given us their confidence and trust. We are not betraying that. We know we will do better than we are doing now”.
Also speaking, the FCT Chairman, Abdulmalik Usman reiterated the position of most APC chieftains that the opposition parties do not have the ability to threaten their party, especially in the North Central.
“The Chairman of the PDP which is the main opposition is also from North Central, we defeated them.
“Why are you talking about the people that just went to a party yesterday and became an emergency exco without doing congresses. What is their antecedents? They were in position before”.
Chairman of Benue, Dr. Benjamin Omale also boasted that in his state, APC is on ground, despite that fact that one of the leaders of the coalition ADC, is former Senate President, David Mark who is equally a citizen of the state.
“Elections are won on performance. And you can see the good works of his Excellency, Governor Hyacinth Alia have given a lot of confidence to the people residing there.
“If you go to David Mark, he is former Senate President, in Otukpo, for over 16 years, there is nothing to write home about that he was able to do. So that is not a threat to us”.
On the issue of security, the Chairman argued that the question of security is not peculiar to North Central alone and indeed all over the world.
“The world is a very small village. You know what is happening in the world. Nigeria will not be a case in isolation. And at the same time, when we are talking about insecurity, it is all over the country. It is not peculiar to North Central states. And we can see what the government is doing by combing every nook and corner to ensure that this people are pushed out. So with God on our side, it will soon become an issue of history”, he concluded.
