National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, has passionately pleaded with Nigerians not to withdraw their support for President Muhammadu Buhari when he leaves office on May 29 after inauguration of new President.
Adamu spoke when members of pro-democracy group under the auspices of the Natives paid him a thank you solidarity visit at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on Thursday.
Thanking them for supporting the party to emerge victorious in the recently-concluded presidential election, the former Nasarawa State governor also urged Nigerians to extend the support given to Buhari to the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He announced that having visited the President-elect twice since his arrival from France, he can confirm that he is hail and hearty, ready to work, rejuvenated and ready to work.
“Anytime I meet any of our support groups, I can’t feel complete in my address without congratulating us, and you for victory in the last election. Today, through your concerted efforts, in collaborating with us, in voting us, we have a brand new president of Nigeria in the person of Bola Tinubu.
“He took time off because of the rigours of the campaigns. We thank God he is back. I was with him with members of the NWC. He is hail and hearty. He is ready to work. He is rejuvenated and ready to work. We want your continued support for us and the incoming government. We want your support to ensure that our transition is smooth and peaceful,” he appealed.
Begging Nigerians not to withdraw their supports for Buhari in retirement, Adamu said: “We want President Buhari to hand over safely by the end of May 29. Buhari has led us to this victory and one way we can pay him is to ensure that he has a very peaceful exit.
“Our support for President Buhari should continue because he is not going to be president after May 29th. Our loyalty to him should not be extinguished after May 29th,” he said.
On Tinubu, Adamu said: “This incoming government is our own. We voted for him. We supported him. Everyone of us should be more anxious to ensuring that Bola Tinubu succeeds as President of Nigeria. He will take off by the 29th of May by grace of God.
“The supports of everyone of you is required. As you were in the campaigns so it will be during the governance. It is my hope that God in his infinite mercy and wisdom will protect all of us. I hope that by the time we are in, I will see more of you,” he pleaded.
Speaking during the visit, Supreme Leader of the Natives, Olalekan Smart Edwards, thanked the party’s leadership, the APC Northern Governors for ensuring Tinubu’s emergence and victory.
“We came here to celebrate with you and also remind you that you cannot afford to fail Nigeria and Africa as the continent’s largest party for giving us a Stabilizer, Mr. Stabilizer
“We read the manifesto’s clearly, it was even translated into languages, we saw a workable future, we looked at his background and we saw he had the formula. We saw a tremendous difference in his leadership language, he has being consistent and his projects are sustainable, so we reposed so much confidence in him and his ability to turn the fortunes of our various tribes and communities around
“Above all as a party please learn from the lessons of internal wrangling, party rewards, positive determination, engagement of the right hands, celebrate and reward the unparalleled role of youths, women and disabled of all tribes, be fair to all as we look forward to an industrialised and prosperous Nigeria .
“We supported party all the way to victory, we rose up afterwards to defend the Supreme Court against intimidation, we have risen to caution the LP misgiuided utterances, have blocked all routes for interim government campaigners, we have reaffirmed that your mandate was freely given and not stolen, and we will continue to back the incoming government to achieve unprecedented results,” he said.
