From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu has visited Benue with a promise to give hope to the over 2million Internally Displaced Persons, (IDPs), living in camps across the state if voted into power.
Tinubu made the promise on Thursday, at the Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, where he was welcomed and cheered by a mammoth crowd of supporters.
The APC presidential candidate and his running mate, Sen. Kashim Shettima, were in the state for the party’s campaign rally for the 2023 general elections.
Tinubu, who stated that the APC remains the only hope to salvage Nigerians, said if voted into power, he will bring hope to the IDPs in Benue by ending their poverty just as issues of non payment of salaries will be a thing of the past.
He said, “Someone remind me of arrears of salary, If you vote for APC, your headache is gone. Non payment of salaries will end.
“We will bring hope to IDPs. We will not be headquarters of poverty development party.
“Today is not the day of protocol. Today we have come to give you the assurance that while the rest of the world looks bleak, we have to work hard for our destiny,” he added.
On education, Tinubu also promised that if voted in as president in the forthcoming elections, “I assure you all my children, once you vote me, we will establish student loan.
“We will not bother about the noise makers. We will give you education and God will help you.”
He however called on Nigerians to blame the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the scarcity of fuel in Nigeria saying “The PDP is behind the scarcity of fuel and rise in prices in Nigeria. They didn’t remember our gas pipeline.
“They issue to themselves Premium Motor Spirit, (PMS), license and also to their supporters and sympathizers and started blackmailing us. We are saying enough is enough.”
He said during the PDP regime, the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, mismanaged the sum of 16 billion dollars meant for electricity development.
“They shared and chopped the money and fought each other in Wuse market. Is that the kind of person you want as president?”
He appreciated Benue people for their show of love and commitment and urged them to vote the APC at all levels.
Earlier, the Director General, APC presidential campaign council and Governor of Plateau state, Simon Lalong, said salary arrears and killings in Benue state will end when the APC is voted in come 2023 elections.
Leader of the APC in Benue state and Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, said the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, is not out for experimentation but for serious business.
He urged the Benue people to vote wisely for the APC saying “Your PVCs should not be wasted. Your votes must count and it’s for Asiwaju and his running mate. Vote wisely, vote APC and you will never regret it.
Meanwhile, the APC governorship candidate in Benue, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia, who thanked Benue for their continuous support to the party also solicited votes for Bola Tinubu and all APC candidate.
According to him “We are in a deplorable situation and they have promised to lift us up so vote APC, vote Bola Tinubu.”
Chairman of the party in the state, Comrade Austin Agada, urged all APC members in Benue State, supporters of our governorship candidate, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia, and the general public to come out and vote massively for the party’s presidential candidate whom he described as “the custodian of Nigeria’s future.