By Oyigu Elijah.
Ahead of the commencement of electioneering campaigns for 2023 presidential elections, the Director General of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola-Shettima (AABOS) presidential support group, Alhaji Abdulsalam Iyaji, has called on Nigerian masses to engage the various presidential candidates on their hidden formula that will revive the economy of the nation.
Alhaji Iyaji, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, made the call in Abuja during the maiden press conference of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola-Shettima 2023 presidential support group.
The former police boss who lamented on the sentimental coloration of the country’s electioneering campaigns, tasked the people of Nigeria to jettison primordial issues with Religious and Regional inclinations and engage the various candidates on what they are bringing to the table if elected.
“We are growing fast in our democratic dispositions. We shall come to a time where no candidate will be voted to power based on his mode of worship or his place of descent. Sentimental democracy cannot take the country anywhere. Our people should learn to engage the candidates on their abilities and their leadership blueprint. We should ask critical questions about the economy, education, security and sustainable development.”
While highlighting the core purposes for the AABOS, AIG Iyaji said, the group was to synergize with other organizations ready to support the APC in the 2023 presidential election.
Consequently, he explained that the goal of the support group was to ensure the electorate had adequate information concerning the policy and aims of the APC and its presidential flagbearer before the 2023 elections.
“The objective is to ensure victory for our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate. We are putting our structures on the ground. As I am talking to you, we have structures in more than 15 states and are still counting. Our aim is to extend to all the states of the federation and with networking arrangements with all other local governments in the undertaking to ensure we pass the message, objectives and reasons we have to support our candidate. And by God’s grace, we have fortunately capable leaders that have been selected for APC.”
AIG Iyaji, who doused the ebbing tentions arising from the Muslim-Muslin ticket said
Senator Bola Tinubu, will appoint Christians to key positions of authority in his cabinet, if elected Nigeria’s next president in 2023.
According to him, the move would allay the fears and douse tension raised in many quarters by those opposed to Tinubu’s choice of Senator Kashim Shettima, a Muslim, as running mate
He said, “Nigerians should focus more on good governance than religion and ethnicity during the general elections. Does governance end with the President and Vice President?
“There are lots of offices in government, such that the totality of their influence determines how the president and his vice operate. However, it is unfortunate that down the line, Nigerians don’t see things that way.
“When Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima come on board, Christians will be prominent in virtually all areas of governance, and by so doing, the APC standard nearer will douse the fears and paranoia that has trailed the Muslim-Muslim ticket.”
“The conduct of Tinubu and Shettima will make the fears linked to the same faith ticket to become irrelevant such that in subsequent elections, religion will no longer be an issue. They will demonstrate what it takes to put aside religion and ethnicity as far as governance is concerned.”
