Victor EzejaDeputy spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Barr Hannatu Musawa, has said the party is confident that the presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kasim Shettima, will record a landslide victory in the northern part of Nigeria during the 2023 election.
In an interview with Prime Business Africa, Barr Musawa, who is also the spokesperson of the APC governorship candidate in Katsina State, Dikko Umar Radda, said Tinubu is well known in the northern part of the country because he identifies and relates with them very well. “Northern electorate know Tinubu very well and are eager to vote for him,” she stated.
Highlighting some of Tinubu’s engagements that endeared him to the northerners, Musawa said Tinubu always visits the region and identifies with the people, especially during burials and traditional festivals and also upgraded the Arewa House library in Kaduna, which is a centre for research and documentations about the culture and tradition of the people.
The APC deputy spokesperson said the PCC team working to deliver bloc votes for Tinubu, has embarked on door-to-door grassroots campaigns and has visited many rural communities, especially in the Northwest to canvass votes. According to her, the people warmly received their messages and have expressed readiness to vote for the party’s presidential candidate and his running mate next year.
She said they have been engaging women and youths in their campaigns, especially in rural areas.
Speaking on the current youth movement supporting the Labour Party presidential, candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and how it would affect the chances of the APC in the election, Musaswa ruled out the possibility.
She dismissed it as a mere social media rant, claiming that many youths in the north who vote during elections have no access to social media platforms and have nothing to do with the movement. She also claimed that obi is not well known in the north and would not get their votes.
Speaking further on the outlook of the electoral landscape, the United Kingdom-trained lawyer and human rights activist, admitted that the activities of the Labour Party presidential candidate have at best revolutionized the campaign process, but only succeeded in displacing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from its strongholds by taking over parts of the Southeast and some states in the South-South region, while the APC held strong, areas, hitherto under its control.
“I can say that Obi cannot win the north,” Musawa stated, arguing that the LP candidate cannot win 25 per cent of votes in the election in at least 24 of the 36 states of the federation in the first round as required by the constitution.
She also dismissed opinion polls about the presidential election that showed Tinubu scoring below other candidates like Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. She said the platforms that conducted the polls were mostly online and did not capture the opinion of the northern populace who don’t have access to the internet and social media, and so, is not a true reflection of the reality on the ground.
On the manifestos of the political parties vying for president, she admitted that they all presented good blueprints for addressing Nigeria’s challenges but insisted that the APC’s own is more widespread in terms of covering issues affecting the country.
On why the APC presidential candidate has not been joining other candidates in live debates and other platforms to engage Nigerians directly, Musawa said the reason is that the platforms are biased and Tinubu would not want to be engaged in such.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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