BY VICTORIA IKEANO
The Nasarawa State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has reacted to the historic win of President Muhammadu Buhari in the state, related issues and Saturday’s governorship/house of assembly elections. Buhari had never won majority votes in Nasarawa state in all his previous attempts viz, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. But in the February 23 election, he polled 289,903 votes while Atiku Abubakar had 283,849 votes.
Speaking in an exclusive telephone interview, APC chairman in the state, Phillip Tetari Shekwo said that Buhari’s victory was a thing of joy for the state while dismissing the opposition PDP complaint about the Nasarawa election. He said that the party was looking forward to Saturday’s governorship/ assembly polls which it also hoped to win. Below are excerpts of the chat.
Question: Mr. Chairman, what is your comment about the presidential election where Buhari won for the first time in Nasarawa State.
Answer: It was a joyful thing that we led. It is not that we have not been winning; all along President Buhari has always won election in Nasarawa State. He had gotten more than the constitutional requirement in each state but we have now led this time around in terms of the number of votes. That must be corrected. I don’t want people to think that he has not been winning election here; he has, only this time around we have led by number of votes cast and am so happy about it. We prayed hard for it, we worked hard for it. God has crowned our efforts, am so happy, we are waiting for the governorship election. We are praying and working hard for victory again.

The PDP has complained about the election in Nasarawa State …?

It will be a surprise to me if PDP does not complain because they are becoming professional complainants. So, am not surprised; but then the victory is very clear. Election in Nasarawa state was peaceful, it was free, fair and credible. Whatever their complaint, we will meet in court, that is it.
Regarding the forthcoming election, there are talks of alignments and coalitions among opposition parties. Are you concerned about these moves?
It is not the first time they are aligning. APC is like a train. We are not afraid of any alignment because no matter the alignment, we shall win because we have the base, we have the support of the people and we are relying on this support to win our election.
What are your expectations this time around, in terms of appointments for example? It is said that some of the people appointed by Mr. President from Nasarawa state did not go through the party system, that they were picked on the basis of ‘who knows who’ if I may use that phrase; that party officials often express surprise at the appointments, saying “we don’t know this person that is appointed to represent us, Nasarawa state’.
That is not true. There is no appointee who is not a member of this party and who has not worked for the party. You know with appointments it is usually like that. If for instance, am expecting an appointment and someone else gets it, unless am a God-fearing person, I may think, ‘ah why did that person get it and not me’ and start insinuating things and I think that is what is happening. As far as Nasarawa state is concerned, we are okay with every appointment the president has made for Nasarawa State.
What is your expectation of a Buhari presidency in the second term?
We had prayed that God allow him to come back so that he can continue with the good work he had done – to lay a solid foundation for Nigeria and that is what we are expecting, that the work he is doing particularly cleaning the Augean stable like ensuring that he reduces and degrades corruption so that this country can start operating a system that will benefit Nigerians. So, we are expecting that he is going to lay a solid foundation for this country, like beginning from the scratch, it is a very difficult thing but he is very capable. Nigerians are with him and that is why they voted for him again.
What advice do you have for opposition parties?
They should come and join us because they have seen that we mean well for this country. They have been there, particularly the PDP, they have been there for 16 years with practically nothing to show for it. Now that we have come to build this country, they should come and join us. It is all about Nigeria. It is not about political parties neither is it about any individual; it is about the country, the prosperity and future of this country. So, now that they have seen our goodwill, they should join us so that together, we can build the country
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