•Tinubu
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Segun Ajibulu, has admonished the party and supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stop the ongoing endorsement jamboree and focus on showcasing the major achievements of the ruling party ahead of the 2027 elections.
Ajibulu, a former senatorial aspirant in Ekiti State, said the gale of endorsements for Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election, is fast becoming a distraction to the 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, reports Daily Independent.
Speaking with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Ajibulu, who also hailed the defections of some key members of the opposition party to the APC, including serving and former governors, however dismissed the notion that the country is heading towards a one party state.
Reinforcing his position on showcasing Tinubu’s achievements, the APC chieftain said: “All this endorsement jamboree, to me, is unnecessary. I don’t think this is what President Tinubu needs now, because nobody has come out to say he or she wants to contest against him in APC.
“So, organising endorsement jamborees up and down, isn’t strategic. What people want to hear now is how the various economic policies are impacting on the peoples’ 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 the office of President Tinubu, many states used to borrow money to pay salary. If they don’t 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.
Ajibulu asked rhetorically “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 robbing it on 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.
Speaking further Ajibulu said, “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 to do that. Nigerians would want to see how far they can go.
On how to salvage the soaring prices of food and other consumables in the open market, Ajibulu urged Tinubu to urgently consider setting up a Price Regulatory Agency to break the monopoly of current market forces.
“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 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.
On the issue of Local Government Autonomy, Ajibulu urged Tinubu not to relent in his efforts to win the battle for the benefit of the people at the grassroots.
“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.
He, however charged Nigerians to support President Tinubu in his quest to free local government from the clutches of the governors.
“Many governors have collected trillions of naira as allocation but still stifling 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,” Ajibulu said.
