Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti

A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Segun Ajibulu, has described the ongoing endorsement of President Bola Tinubu  ahead of 2027 general election as an unnecessary strategy.

He urged his supporters to stop the ongoing jamboree and focus on showcasing the major  achievements of the political party.

Ajibulu, former senatorial aspirant in Ekiti State, said the gale of endorsements for Tinubu is fast becoming a distraction to president, urging those behind it to redirect their energies towards showcasing the lofty achievements of the APC-led federal government in the last two years.

Speaking with journalists in Ado-Ekiti, Ajibulu, who also hailed the defections of some key members of the opposition, including serving and former governors into the APC fold, dismissed the notion that the country is heading towards a one party state. 

He said: “All these endorsements jamboree, to me, is unnecessary. I do not think this is what President Tinubu needs now  because nobody  has come out to say he or she wants contest against him in APC. So,  organising endorsement jamboree up and down isn’t strategic.”

“What people want to hear now is how the various economic policies are impacting on the people’s lives. We (APC members) should be able to explain this point by point, to the people. The opposition is always quick to say Tinubu had done nothing, it is now  incumbent on us to prove them wrong through our evidence based arguments. 

“Though, things were really messed up before Tinubu took over power but the little he has been able to do to keep the economy afloat must be explained to the people. Before the assumption of office of President Tinubu, many states used to borrow money to pay salary. If they dont have money to pay salaries, how can we be even talking about development? If not the courageous policies introduced by Tinubu, the  situation would have been chaotic by now. 

“How can people be shouting about an attempt to turn Nigeria into a one party state,when that could not happen under President Olusegun Obasanjo when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) captured about 30 out of the 36 states ? There was even a time when the whole of southwest region  was being control by the PDP except Lagos State. 

“Interestingly, majority of the people in the so called coalition today were party of the arrangements then and they were happy with it. They were even rubbing it our face  that PDP will rule Nigeria for 60 years. The likes of  Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amachi and El- Rufai  and others  were all  members of the PDP during those era.”

“I  would advise that rather than making unnecessary noise  about their  failure and  inability to manage their ego  and inordinate political ambitions, they should be humbled enough to learn from Tinubu  on how he was able to stand and withstand Obasanjo’s political intimidation and harassment. 

“If it’s possible let them  go and start from the ground zero. I think they still have ample time  do that. Nigerians would want to see how  far they  can go.”

Ajibulu urged Tinubu to urgently consider setting up a price regulatory agency to break the monopoly  of current market forces, in order to salvage the soaring prices of food and other consumables in the one market.

“One thing I will suggest to Mr President is to set up Price Control Agency in order to check the exploitative activities of the middle men. Prices of  commodities are high in the market because there is no regulation. Even in America,  government has regulatory agency.

They don’t just allow market forces to determine the prices of commodities. We can’t just allow some people to be milking the system dry while majority are suffering. But it is like Mr President believes in free and open market. I think something needs to be done about this for people to feel  the impact of his policies.” 

“I want Mr President to  ensure that the autonomy granted the local governments in Nigeria is enforceable. Many governors are still foot dragging  on the matter. Unless the people at the grassroots are allowed to feel the impact governance, nothing  tangible would   be achieved and the only way to achieve that is through functional and effective local government administration. 

“Many governors  have  collected trillions of naira as allocation but still starving local governments of  funds. Our focus should not be on President Tinubu alone. A lot of money is coming to the states now, let’s hold our governors accountable. Let them explain how they spend this humongous funds coming from the centre.”

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