Tinubu’s political record stands him out — Gbajabiamila

Femi Gbajabiamila

 •Your govt should reflect national character — Islamic cleric

SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila has said that the political pedigree of the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu stood him out from other candidates.

Gbajabiamila said Tinubu has done what none of the other presidential candidates has ever done when he served as the governor of Lagos State for eight years from 1999 to 2007.

Meanwhile, an Abuja based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Idris has urged Bola Tinubu, to unite the country when elected.

Idris in a chat with newsmen, in Abuja while reacting to the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket,  asked the candidate of the APC to do everything within his power to make sure that he calmed perceived frayed nerves across the country to a calm spirit where the citizens would be harmonious within themselves, so that there would be an easy co-existence when elected.

Speaking during a meeting with leaders of Community Development Associations, CDAs, in Surulere, Lagos State, yesterday, Gbajabiamila said Nigerians should vote for Tinubu because he is the only candidate that has something to show for what he did in the recent past.

He said: “Today, they say there are four, three or four front-runner presidential candidates. There was something that I used to say many years ago. I used to say it is not by mouth, it is by what you do, the seeds that you’ve sown.

“So, today, I ask people of all the front runners, they all have records. Asiwaju has a record of eight years as governor, Peter Obi has a record of eight years as governor in Anambra, Atiku has a record as Vice President for eight years. When you put their records side by side, there is no competition whatsoever, Asiwaju stands tall shoulders above everybody. 

“In his (Tinubu’s) case, Lagos is not even like a state, Lagos is like a country in terms of population, density, different people in the state and look at what he has been able to do,” he said.

The Speaker noted that because of Tinubu’s track record, “This election is the one that we must campaign based on persuasion, for us to go out there and talk to those who are still sitting on the fence, who are persuaded based on religion, or ethnicity. Let them be persuaded by records, that is what I want from you.”

Sheikh Mohammed Idris said, “Tinubu must not repeat the mistake of President Muhammadu Buhari if he is elected in 2023. Nigeria is currently divided along religious and ethnic lines. His administration should reflect national unity through his appointments and body language.”

He added that it was appalling that the citizens have been living a depressed life occasioned by hardship as if they were living in the decades past and have lost hope and were anxious about the future."

“Nigerians want to see a united country in 2023, where a Yoruba man would be president, Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri as his vice and an Igbo man as the Senate President and so on. We are praying for a Nigeria where an Ijaw or an Efik person will be competent enough to be the National Security Adviser. Tinubu should do everything within him to avoid lopsided appointments to give every Nigerian a sense of belonging.”

He advised youths to shun leaders, who wield religious sentiments and always ready to drag them into unnecessary conflicts but rather they should look for role models that can make them realise that they have a common destiny with the Nigerian nation.

“The pride of Nigeria is in its diversity and the new Nigeria must be one in which leaders employ the things that bind us together. There can be no greatness for Nigeria if every citizen of the country cannot feel at home whether they are in Kano, Ibadan, Calabar or Owerri. The onus to ensure that we have a country where every single Nigerian can proudly call home lies in the hands of the our youths.”

Culled from Vanguard