2023 Presidency: Stop demonising your opponents, APC spokesman tells aspirants

Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Honourable Yekini Nabena, has appealed to presidential aspirants in the party to refrain from demonising one another ahead of the presidential convention.

He gave the admonition on Monday in a statement.

Tribune Online checks revealed that former governors of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and sitting governor of Ebonyi, Dave Umahi had since declared their interest while former Abia State Governor and Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu had last week dropped the hint that he might join the race.

Vice-presidential, Yemi Osinbajo has not formally declared his interest but several campaign groups have been moving across the country, galvanising support for him.

Nabena advised the aspirants to let their campaigns be issues-based as he warned that demonising themselves would ultimately be counterproductive for whoever emerges after the Convention.

Nabena said since all those aspiring to fly the ticket of APC are all from the same political party, party supporters should see themselves as one and play up their advantages.

According to him, whoever emerges as the party presidential candidate during the primary will need to extend the olive branch to others because the party does not need a divided house if it must win an election.

Nabena expressed the belief that the party would give a level playground to all aspirants during the primary and offer support to whoever emerges as candidate of the party.

“My appeal is for all our members to embrace issues-based campaigns strategies in selling whoever they feel should succeed our dear President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. There is no need to be unnecessarily emotive about it.

“I believe that all our presidential aspirants are well qualified to pick the ticket. It is a fact that participatory democracy gives room for choices even within the same political party as it is a practice in the APC. We should therefore engage constructively without demonising ourselves bearing in mind that whatever we say against each other now will later be capitalized on by other political parties during the general elections.”

Nabena tasked the APC members who were already attacking aspirants against their principals to refrain from such and imbibe civility.

“It is also important not to distract both the party and some of our aspirants who are still holding one position of responsibility or the other. We should not deny Nigerians dividends of democracy we promised by unnecessarily heating up the polity,” Nabena tasked APC members.

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