By ‘Yomi Aveleso | Ado-Ekiti
THE presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, has declared
that the February 25 election is a liberation election that should produce a Yoruba man as president.
He also said that he was ahead of those planning to scuttle the election with the hoarding of the new naira notes and scarcity of fuel across the country.
Tinubu, who spoke on Friday in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, during the APC presidential campaign rally, alleged that unnamed individuals in the corridor of power were planning to create an atmosphere of in-stability, postpone the presidential election and impose an interim national government.
He reiterated his earlier position that it is the turn of the Yoruba to produce the president of the country, saying “this election is yours. It is the election you will use to liberate yourselves.”
He said: “Eyin omo Yoruba! Eyin omo Yoruba!! Eyin omo Yoruba!!! (Children of Yoruba). Whose turn is it? Relax. If you hear rumblings; if someone is not pursuing something, then something is pursuing someone. This coming election is your election. Is that not so? It is the election you will use to liberate yourselves….. They want to turn us to servants. They lie. We are not servants.
The APC standard-bearer, who spoke in Yoruba at the rally, declared that “those who kept the new currencies in their vaults would eventually release them,” urging suffering Nigerians not to fall for the ploy to provoke them to take to violence and anarchy over the scarcity of the redesigned currencies.
Tinubu also slammed suspected saboteurs who are allegedly hoarding Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and preventing eligible voters from collecting them.
He urged those yet to collect their cards to “continue to be on the neck of those holding on to your cards until they release them to you.”
The former Lagos State governor urged the electorate to vote for all APC candidates in the February 25 National Assembly elections and March 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections “be-cause the party offers a platform for good governance and responsible leadership.
He said: “They locked up money. Trek to your polling units, vote and stay with your vote.
“I use God to beg you, this matter is not fight, don’t fight them. Those who locked up your money will eventually unlock it. They are doing it to get you angry so that you can become violent and they can postpone the election to bring an interim government.
We are wiser than them and equally ahead of them. The rat that eats poison will kill itself.” Earlier, the Ekiti State governor, Biodun Oyebanji, urged the people of the state to vote massively for the APC and Tinubu to reciprocate his good deeds and love for Ekiti over the years.
Oyebanji said: “All of us have decided to vote for Asiwaju and there is no cause for alarm. Ekiti people, you have all decided to give your votes to Asiwaiu and the ballot boxes will be full with votes for him because he has always stood by us and we are going to appreciate him with our votes on February 25.
“Let us go back to our wards, homes, churches, mosques, markets and other places to spread the gospel of Asiwaju to the electorate. Tell your people to collect their PVCs. Those who are still without their PVCs don’t love Asiwaju.
“Asiwaiu’s votes are our votes and we must all join hands to ensure his victory.
Let us elect all APC candidates for Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly with our votes.” The immediate past of the state, Dr Kayode Fayemi, said Tinubu stood by Ekiti when the progressives were in the trenches, urging the people of the state to reciprocate the good gestures of the APC presidential candidate at the polls.
Also, the senator representing Ekiti Central district, Opeyemi Bamidele, expressed confidence that Ekiti electorate would vote massively for Tinubu based on his track record in governance.
Bamidele, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the APC, described Tinubu as a thinker with great intellect and unflagging focus for good governance and should succeed President Muhammadu Buhari at the expiration of his tenure in May.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters added that Tinubu had developed a blueprint to rewrite Nigeria’s history and inject good governance in the body polity.
He gave the assurance that Tinubu was not seeking power to gamble with the country’s destiny.
