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By Gabriel Dike and Blessing Ani
Minister of State for Labour and Employment and the presidential campaign spokesman of Senator Bola Tinubu, Mr. Festus Keyamo, says Tinubu can not be separated from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The minster also revealed that the 2023 presidential election is a two-man-horse race between Tinubu and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku.
Keyamo, who spoke yesterday during a television programme, tagged: One-on-one, monitored in Lagos, debunked the insinuations making round that the APC presidential candidate has health challenges.
“Tinubu is not sick, those saying he is sick, are they doctors? During the 2015 presidential campaign, the opposition party predicted that President Buhari would die but many of them have died and his is still strong and running his administration, “ he stated.”
Asked how Tinubu would campaign based on the performance of the current administration, Keyamo, said the APC presidential candidate has his own ideas of how to running his government if elected.
His words: “The opposition in order to deceive Nigerians are churning out false information and numbers of incidents that don’t exist. In the face of the World economy crisis, Nigeria is doing well under the present administration.
“I don’t regret selling Buhari to Nigerians in 2019. Given the global economy crisis, Buhari has done well. In terms of World inflation, Nigeria is not among the worse countries.
“We can not separate Tinubu from this administration. But somehow we can separate him because he has his own idea on how to run his administration come 2023. APC record under his administration in Lagos is a blue print for others in Nigeria.
“Yes, Tinubu is an APC member that campaigned for the election of Buhari in 2015 and 2019 but he has his programmes for Nigerians in 2023. Tinubu has fresh ideas on how to tackle the various challenges facing the country. I know that tomorrow, the headline in newspapers will be Tinubu can’t be separated from Buhari’s administration.
“No, he should not be separated because he is a member of the APC. But we have to separate him as a human being, different personality; he has fresh ideas to bring on board. Tinubu has his own manifesto too. So, we cannot take a part of APC and reject the other.
“Tinubu is a genius in job creation. So, I believe in Asiwaju 100 percent. Not because I want anything from him or that I am jobless but because I’m seeking the path of peace and progress for the country. Asiwaju deserves his place in history and respect.”
On insecurity, Keyamo admitted that there are security challenges in the country but stressed that Boko Haram attacks in the North East have been reduced significantly, noting, “I can drive from Abuja to Kano without security details.”
“Security has not gotten out of hand as been reported in the media. Herdsmen/farmers clashes have been reduced unlike in 2017. Now we are concern about kidnapping.”
The labour and employment minister assured Nigerians, stating, “we have hope that before Buhari hand over in 2023, insecurity and other challenges will have been reduced to the barest minimum. ‘’
On the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, Keyamo, said he brought colouor to the campaign but stated that he cannot win because of many factors which is beyond Obi’s control.
“Peter Obi is ahead of Atiku in terms of ability to take decisions not in terms of votes so you must quote me correctly.”
He faulted Bishop Hassan Kukah and other religious leaders’ position on the Muslim-Muslim ticket, asking, “how can you as a Christian come and tell a political party who they should pick as their candidate or running mate?
According to Keyamo, their mandate as men of God is to lead people to heaven and not to tell them whom to vote during election.
On corruption, Keyamo said allegations against the APC presidential candidate are baseless because the USA embassy cleared him of any wrongdoing. He challenged those linking him to Alfa Beta to visit the Corporate Affairs Commission to check the file to see if there is any link between and the tax firm and also debunked allegations by PDP chieftains’ that Tinubu enriched himself while in office as governor of Lagos State.
