Ahead of Saturday’s election, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has declared as hatchet jobs some opinions poll projecting candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi as the likely winner.
Also, the PCC also reacted to the endorsement of Atiku Abubakar by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), saying the forum is one of the groups in the north and does not represent the entire region.
The APC declared that the forthcoming election is between the Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Opinion polls conducted by ANAP/NOI and Nextier projected Peter Obi as the winner or preferred candidate to win the presidential election.
But while addressing a press conference Wednesday in Abuja, the special adviser on media and strategic communication, Dele Alake, said there is no evidence and reality on ground anywhere in Nigeria as far as the presidential election is concerned that support Peter Obi winning the election, adding that Labour Party has no pathway to victory.
He described the polls as “hatchet jobs.”
“We are sure many of you must have seen all manner of opinion polls in the last few weeks that gave victory in the coming election to the Labour Party candidate, Mr. Peter Obi. These polls have oscillated between the sublime and the most ridiculous. We want to state categorically here, that those polls will only lead to despair, despondency, utter shame and disappointment because the pollsters only took a flight of fancy.
“This presidential election is going to be a straight contest between the candidates of APC and PDP and from more studious and rational polling, our candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is coasting home to victory despite the current challenges in the implementation of the currency swap and fuel scarcity that have caused some difficulties for almost all Nigerians regardless of social and economic status.
“We particularly find amusing the ANAP/NOI and Nextier polls that projected Mr. Obi as the winner or preferred candidate to win the presidential election. We have had cause to alert the security agencies to keep these pollsters under watch because their intention is to prepare ground for unrest by giving false hope of winning to Mr. Obi’s motley crowd of supporters who have predilection for violence with the way they bully, harass, intimidate and insult anyone who thinks differently from them.”
According to Alake, Tinubu and the campaign team have travelled round all the 36 states and even made return trip to many states for additional engagements.
“Our candidates Our message of Renewed Hope and better future have resonated well with Nigerians who are prepared to entrust the future of our country to the capable and steady hands of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima with their votes on Saturday, February 25th.
“Our message has been that the candidates in their first opportunity to govern their states of Lagos and Borno, left good impressions about themselves with their track records as performers and innovators. We cannot say the same of their competitors for power.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission and our armed forces, especially the police, have all declared their preparedness and readiness to ensure we have a free, fair and credible election. APC as a party and our campaign council are ready for the election too. We have worked so hard since INEC declared campaign open for Presidential and National Assembly positions on September 28, 2022.
“We are certain of victory because Nigerians will elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for, he clearly stands apart from the pack and has worked so much to earn the trophy.”
While declaring that those opinion polls giving victory to Peter Obi will lead to shame, Alake said throughout the electioneering season, “we worked hard to keep our commitment to focus on issues that affect the lives of Nigerians. Like our principal, Asiwaju Tinubu, we used every opportunity to sell our agenda for a better Nigeria as encapsulated in our Renewed Hope policy document.
“We vigorously highlighted the achievements of the current APC-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in various sectors. These are its ambitious infrastructural development programme never witnessed in the history of Nigeria and massive improvement in agricultural production. There are also Social Investment Programmes that have been applauded globally as revolutionary and first in Africa and huge investment in our armed forces for better security, among other significant achievements of the APC administration.”
Reacting to a question on the ACF endorsement of Atiku, PCC’s Director, Strategic Communications, Alhaji Idris Mohammed said the campaign team not losing sleep over the so-called endorsement of Atiku Abubakar by Arewa Consultative Forum.
Mohammed said: “As far as we are concerned, the ACF is just a group. There are lots of northern groups out there who have also supported Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Tinubu is not only canvassing to groups, he is also campaigning to the masses. Everywhere you go, you will see the kind of crowd that he has amassed and the commentaries people make about him.
“So we really don’t take the ACF endorsement seriously. What we take seriously is the way Nigerians, especially the northerners you talked about are going to vote. We are very optimistic that Asiwaju is going to merge victorious in Saturday’s poll. Anybody can say anything. There are lots of other groups.”
In a related development, the TINUBU/SHETTIMA Grassroots Independent Campaign Council (TSGICC) has said it will deliver at least 27 millions votes for the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu come Saturday.
Addressing a press conference at its national secretariat Wednesday, the Independent Campaign Council’s national coordinator, Silas Agara, said since campaign commenced, his team with presence across the 774 Local Government Areas and all the wards, was able to deliver on its mandate of ensuring victory for Tinubu/Shettima ticket.
Agara said: “I am extremely delighted to reveal the structures we have in place nationwide have assured us of a minimum of five million (5,000,000) votes for our presidential ticket.
“We optimistic that the over ten thousand (10,000) Tinubu and Shettima registered support groups with the TSGICC have the potentials of delivering additional twenty seven million votes (27,000,000)!
“We have also set up a ‘situation room’ and ‘call centres’ to monitor the election process and outcome in real time.
Gentlemen of the press, finally may I seize this opportunity to call on all supporters of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remain calm and law abiding as we approach the zero hour. We firmly believe that our party and candidates have a date with history. Both are making history. Lets join hands with all progressive elements to take the nation to a new higher level.”
When asked to justified how his group will mobilise the said 27 million votes, Agara said: “We have been on ground for seven months and working with support groups nationwide that have come out openly to declare for Tinubu/Shettima ticket.
“We have taken statistics of what these support groups can do across the country and I can assure you that with structures available with ICC today we will deliver.
“Our various coordinators in various states have set targets and we know the votes we are expecting from all our members. We know the structure of APC and giving the performances of our state governors across the country, the set 27 millions votes are achievable.”
