2019 Not A Walkover For APC ― Gov Bello

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has warned members and supporters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) that the 2019 general election will not be a walkover for the ruling party.

He has therefore advised that the party cannot afford to take anything for granted.

Speaking on Wednesday night when President Buhari hosted youth political appointees to a dinner at the presidential villa, Abuja, he said: “As members of the APC, we will not deny that our party has a huge task before us in the 2019 General Elections.

“The Elections will not be a walkover, the PDP will not be a pushover and we must take nothing and no one for granted.”

He said although, President Buhari remained the best leader for the country till 2023, the issue of perception was one that must be taken seriously by the APC to ensure that no chance was given to the opposition to return to power.

He said: “If we fail to take charge of the narrative and persuade people till they see the true intents of this administration’s policies, we will have a much harder job mobilizing the votes we need to get Mr President re-elected.

“If we do not put Mr President’s achievements before our people till they can recite it themselves, they may agree with the shameless PDP that the heartless corruption which she is offering again is somehow better than the alleged ‘incompetence’ of the APC which has accomplished every good thing I listed above.

“In summary, all may be lost if we do not get the Nigerian people to see why they must allow Mr President to continue his great work as they go to the polls in 2019.

“The APC is offering greater inclusiveness for all Nigerians irrespective of tribes and voting patterns.

“The APC will pay better attention to affirmative action- women, youth and special ability in appointive positions.

The APC will respect the unspoken but gentlemanly rotationally presidential pattern between North and South which most Nigerians defended in 2015.

“The APC is promising to continue re-writing the age-long negatives which have plagued our nation to positives.

This is the message we must all take to every nook and cranny of this nation, and from door to door.

“On the other hand, all the crooked PDP is offering Nigerians is ‘Corruption is better than Incompetence’ and ‘Anybody but Buhari’.

“I say they have made our job easy, assuming we are ready to work hard.

My brothers and sisters, 2015 was about Change. 2019 is about Progress.”

Also speaking, Jasper Azuatalam, an Executive Director at the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) told President Buhari that most Nigerians were presently disappointed with him because he has failed to perform the magic they expected.

However, he stressed that it would be the worst things for Nigeria if power slides back to the PDP in 2019.

Azuatalam stated: “The worst thing we can to do to this country Nigeria, is to allow PDP to come back to power in 2019. It is the worst thing we can do to Nigeria.

“I will liken PDP to a lion that has been put in the cage for a long time. I have interacted with their members and I know how hungry they have become because they don’t see free money as before.

“If we lose to this lion again in 2019, then Nigeria is going to walk more than 1,000 steps backwards.

“Like we always said in those days we lost elections, Mr President will always get eleven to twelve million votes whether he operates from a party or not. That’s how good will we had that time.

“But that is because a lot of people believed that by Mr President’s integrity and his anti-corruption, he is going to do magic when he resumes office as President. That is two months, Nigeria will change. They don’t know how it would happen.

“But the truth is that most of these have been disappointed because they didn’t see the magic. That is why we need to do the real work.”

While thanking the group, President Buhari reassured that Nigeria has all it takes for them to live a good life.

He condemned the rush by some Nigerians greener pastures abroad, saying that said his administration was determined to transform the country and make it better than it met it.

Buhari stated: “If people don’t feel good about this country, let them go and find out what is happening elsewhere but we are going to stay here and we are going to salvage this country together.

“I have gone through a lot, I have been Governor, I was in charge of our petroleum sector for over three years, I was Head of State and now I have come without the uniform and have visited each of the 774 Local government Areas in this country.

“The intention of this administration is to do the infrastructure and give education and health care to our people especially the poor.’’