Buhari Pulled Us From Bottom Of Ocean…I will Continue Where He Stopped – Tinubu

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday lauded the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari who he said brought the country out from the bottom of the ocean in 2015 when he assumed leadership.

A coalition of parties which became the All Progressive Congress defeated the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in 2015 ushering in a new administration under Buhari.

The party repeated its feat by retaining power when it defeated the PDP again in 2019 elections.

As Buhari’s tenure ends in 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has begun the process of conducting election to the office of the president in February.

Tinubu emerged the presidential candidate of the APC in June and began an official campaign from Jos, the Plateau State, after series of town hall meetings.

Speaking during the flag off ceremony, the elated Tinubu announced with a broad smile that “I’m a proud candidate of the APC. I’m proud to continue the work of the party” under President Muhammadu Buhari.

Sounding philosophical, the former Lagos State governor said, “One can see the good potential of the good nation. One can see renewed hope and other things we are capable of achieving with unity of purpose and collective spirit.”

He has premised his campaign on “Renewed Hope” to continue what he called the good work of Buhari.

The former Senator exclaimed ecstatically that, “One can see great prosperity in an economy humming with activity from the farmers in the rural area to the city boy in the bustling urban center.”

He assured that whether in the urban or rural area, “Each will have productive work to do and a decent home to return.

“You can see a Nigeria where those who want to work will be able to build a decent life from the food of their individual and collective endeavour.

“We see how far we have come from the bottom of the ocean, depression after depression but what a soldier, what a great citizen, he never gave up, he pulled us up from our ankle” saying Nigeria will not sink in the time of Buhari and APC.

He laughed off what he described as negative feelings towards the party saying, “They thought we were dead, dead below sea level until Adamu (Abdullahi, APC National Chairman) was called to deliver us and steered the party in the right direction.”

He promised that, “We reaffirmed our commitment to a progressive and good governance to our nation.

“This is more than an election to define the soul of this country.

“We are determined to get Nigeria working. No child will go to bed at night or uneducated and with no food.

“Yes, you are enduring now. Physically challenged people will have the renewed hope, the hope subsists. You know of a carer, Buhari cares and we care too.

“Instead of letting them distract us, we forge the wise path towards our approved destination and even better Nigeria. This is what the election is truly about,” he said.

He added that, “Even though we have talked of agriculture, we will be there. We will establish a commodity exchange.

“We in the APC, me and Shettima will seek to make permanent the covenant of progress and good governance with Nigeria under this hope resurgence and hope renewed because you are supporting us.

“We will assemble an unbreakable team to reverse any decay to join youth to create a progressive nation.

“We will ensure that we search every corner to cultivate farms and bring food and export items that will make us produce research centers that will make us produce our own medicine and pharmaceutical technology for our own people.”

He lamented that the opposition PDP was in power for 16 years but left without solving one of the crises pulling back the country.

“They had 16 years; they spent on electricity not one, they can’t get it because they don’t know it,” he said of the PDP’s failure in fixing the electricity problem.

He pointed out that, “They (PDP) want to come back. Just tell them a dead fish cannot be sweet in any soup. They are dead. We will share them to ensure overall energy and security resource mobilisation for our country.

“We shall continue the ongoing exploratory works in the oil frontiers in the basins and especially speed up the development of commercial oil found in Gombe, Bauchi and Lake Chad basin.

“We will pursue the reach of Lake Chad to enhance agriculture and address insecurity in that region.

“We will encourage urban employment through a national industrial plan that employs a series of measures including tax and employment credit.

“To the youth we made a promise that today we may be difficult but hope is not lost. We won’t let you down. You are our children, you are our junior brothers.

“We will bring greater power and energy. If you go to the next house to charge your battery, it gets me angry. I’m not a happy man until I free you from the bondage of neglect and give you the skill and courage to call yourself that you can do it and I know you can do it,” Tinubu said.