In preparation for the general election in 2023, Tinubu asked the electorate to exercise “intelligent and discerning” judgment.
Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, has urged Nigerians to learn from the “mistakes of the past” as political campaigns formally begin on Wednesday.
In a statement on Wednesday, Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos, also asked the populace to exercise “intelligent and discerning” judgment as they got ready to elect the nation’s next president in the general election of 2023.
“We must show that we have learned from mistakes of the past. We must be prepared to make difficult decisions. We must be wise, we must be discerning; we must choose progress. We must favour reason over sentiment,” Tinubu said in a message to mark the official commencement of the 2023 presidential election campaign activities across the country”.
In preparation for the elections in 2019, Nigeria’s electoral agency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), today formally lifted the ban on political party campaigning.
Last weekend, INEC made public the names and qualifications of the political parties’ candidates for the election.
In the contest to succeed incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, Messrs. Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) are seen as the front-runners among 15 others.
Since the former governor of Lagos entered the competition for success. Many Nigerians have expressed serious concern over Buhari’s health, particularly his detractors who have questioned if he is qualified to lead a nation that takes pride in being a “giant of Africa.”
Videos of 70-year-old Tinubu with his clothes wet have repeatedly been brought up by his detractors to raise concerns about his weakened health and insinuate that the APC presidential contender may struggle with incontinence.
In spite of this, Tinubu pleaded with Nigerians to join him in his goal of winning the position of leader of the nation, saying he was prepared to lead the nation to greater glory through creative ideas.
He claimed that as they launch their campaigns to persuade the populace to elect them to power, he and his running companion, Kashim Shettima, are prepared to present their vision of a flourishing Nigeria.
“Our nation stands at a brink of history,” continued Tinubu. Like practically every other country in the globe, we are faced with formidable obstacles. Some of them are of our own making, while others are the results of circumstances that are completely out of any Nigerian’s control. We cannot afford to make a mistake on this one, that much is evident.
As the APC gets ready to launch its campaign, Tinubu’s choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket has also been a significant oddity.
Even while the APC presidential candidate stated his action was based on merit rather than religious concern, the fact that Shettima, a sitting senator on the same faith platform, was flown has drawn criticism.