News Investigators/ The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretary, Surajudeen Basiru, says the forthcoming 2027 general elections is about making progress.
Mr Basiru stated this on Friday in Abuja while welcoming some northern candidates of opposition political parties who defected to APC.
He said that their defection to APC was not about Nigeria, but about progress, unity and cohesiveness.
“I want to say that the 2027 general elections is about making progress, and Nigeria will indeed make progress,” he said.
The APC national secretary decried recent statements credited to some opposition candidates in the media, saying they were only out to achieve their selfish ambition.
“I heard Rotimi Amaechi saying we should not have done a seaport in Ogun; that we did it because President Bola Tinubu wants to make money from it.
“The president could have pocketed the money without doing any seaport if he wanted.
“We also see a very absurd position from somebody who has served as a tutor, who, from 1999 until 2023, has not done any work except being serviced by Nigeria.
“Saying he did not have money to buy drugs for his sick mother, but yet had millions of naira to do burial for her.
“We also see somebody who sold our collective assets and patrimony under the presidential programme in a way that collapsed the commanding heights of our economy into a coma,” he said.
Mr Bashiru described such statements as irresponsible, saying people who made them had no business getting close to the corridors of power.
He said Nigerians must make a difference between making progress, which would require collective sacrifices, and politicising issues.
Speaking on the removal of fuel subsidy, he said the Tinubu-led administration was not going back to subsidy regime, stressing that it had gone forever.
He said the reality about fuel subsidy removal was that the country had gone back to an era of self-sufficiency, even for government organisations.
“I served as commissioner in my state. When we could not pay salaries, we had to get an overdraft to pay salaries.
“We could not pay pensioners; if we wanted to do a developmental project, we had to go and borrow money in the capital market. Those things are things of the past now,” he said.
Mr Bashiru said Tinubu had done so much for the country in all sectors and deserved to be re-elected for a second term in 2027.
“Today, I am proud of my naira. I can use my naira card anywhere in the world to transact, unlike previous years when you must get money to put in a dollar account before you can use your naira.
“This is progress, and we cannot afford to go back again; forward ever, backward never,” he said.
The APC National Chairman, Prof. Netawe Yilwatda, while welcoming the defectors, said the party was big enough to accommodate all progressive-minded Nigerians who were ready to join its fold and work for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
“We have space for everybody; if you have a progressive mind, there is a place for you; you will be in our campaign team and in our party to work for President Tinubu.
“We welcome you all to our great party and thank you for taking this decisive action.
“You are not just changing a platform, but you are coming in to join us in reinforcing our belief in President Tinubu and his Renewed Hope Agenda.
“I’m happy that most of you are from the northern part of Nigeria, where I come from and where all of us come from,” he said.
He said Tinubu had worked for the unity of Nigeria, and was currently doing a lot to better the lots of Northern Nigeria, including coastal road and railway constructions, among other projects.
The founder of Babatinuubu Fisa Bililai 2027, Dr Aslam Aliyu, who led the defectors to APC, said the candidacies of the candidates was verifiable on INEC’s portal and records.
“Barely two weeks ago, I facilitated the return of 12 ADC House of Assembly candidates to APC.
“Today, under my leadership, we have successfully brought another 11 House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates from NDC and ADC into our great party,” she said.
She said the decision of the candidates to join APC was a clear demonstration of their confidence in Tinubu and the Renewed Hope Agenda as a pathway to national recovery.
“In two weeks, we are bringing 23 opposition candidates back to APC. If politics is a contest of influence, then our scoreboard currently reads two-zero in our favour.
“I hereby officially present these 11 candidates for your acceptance into the winning fold of our great party.
“APC remains resolute in mobilising support for President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027,” Aliyu said.
NAN