APC moneybags will lose election to Osinbajo – Sen. Kabiru Gaya

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The chairman of The Progressive Project (TPP); a coalition of support groups for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo 2023 presidential ambition, Kabiru Gaya, has said that moneybags within and outside the All Progressive Congress (APC) will lose their dollars to the Vice President if they contest against the people’s will.

Speaking yesterday during his resumption as the chairman of The Progressive Project (TPP) in Abuja, Senator Gaya, who is also the chairman of Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said the Vice President will have no challenge raising the N100 million nomination fee of the party, as about ten thousand supporters with ten thousand naira contribution, will purchase the forms.

“A lot is being said by many; as genuine democrats and as Progressives, we shall continue to defend the constitutional rights of citizens to hold their own opinions but we must all be weary of those whose sole preoccupation is the propagation of such hate and suspicions that seek to hold our country down.

“Evening an internal issue of the price of our party’s nomination form is being deliberately misinterpreted in some circles when we feel confident that unlike moneybags, our truly populist candidate is popular enough to pool supporters’ token donations and raise such money with ease.

“Just one youth group with TPP, the Progressive Group alone says that they can raise N100million with rough voluntary contributions of N10,000 each by 10,000 of their supporters who are keen about seeing a better future. Our populist Mathematics is flawless and very strong; moneybags within or outside APC will only lose their dollars in any contest against the people’s will.

“Unlike the history of some other political parties, records show that neither APC presidential ticket nor its VP slot had ever been won by throwing money around but by populist endorsement from North and South”, Gaya said.

Speaking further, he said fear of the people’s genuine power has made some elements resort to heightened propaganda in the past few days; as some sponsored articles of calumny are appearing here and there and through the media, adding that TPP is monitoring the sponsored pawns and their sponsors.

“We will not descend low to play gutter politics and we have continued to warn our supporters against involvement in insults and vilification. We are democrats, we believe in uniting people and in submitting ourselves and competing ideas to the people’s evaluation and decisions through the ballot box”, he said.

While acknowledging that The Progressive Project (TPP) is a mass based and citizen-driven project calling for the candidature of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as APC’s presidential candidate in the forthcoming elections, Gaya said TPP is succeeding, hence his specific assignment is to lead a process of recalibration of all pro-Osinbajo populist forces towards electoral victory under the banner of APC.

“Our duty is the coordination of all support groups: this is not the Campaign Council.

For Professor Yemi Osinbajo, this race is not about personal ambition but about a positive response to populist calls from a citizen-driven mobilization that began without input from him or his office.

“Note that people from other parties and even millions of non-partisan citizens who do not belong to any political party have strong interest and involvement with this campaign for Osinbajo’s candidature.

Without an iota of doubt, I am certain that all the knowledgeable people here can attest to the qualities and competence of Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Globally, climate change, insecurity, drug trafficking, economic problems such as unemployment and inflation along with many other challenges have worsened and all these impact Nigeria and many other countries.

“However, by electing someone of Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s pedigree who has direct insight into the depth of our challenges as well as current strategies and tactics being laid out to tackle them, we have a great chance to move ahead without much waste of time”, Gaya said.