Southeast Youths Endorse Tinubu/Shettima Ticket

Tinubu and Shettima

The presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), received a boost on Friday, as youths across the South East geo-political zone have declared support for the party’s candidate in the 2023 election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his vice presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima.

The youths, operating under the aegis of the Conference of South East Progressive Youths (CSEPY), said their support for the Tinubu/Shettima was necessitated by the duo’s patriotism, and capacity to deliver the much-needed dividends of democracy, as well as their pan-Nigerian approaches to issues of national concerns.

Specifically, the youths drew attention to the people-oriented policies, and infrastructural transformation that defined the tenures of the APC’s presidential and vice presidential candidates, in Lagos, and Borno states respectively.

In a statement signed by their National President, Barr Emeka Kalu, the South East youths said their support for Tinubu/Shettima, in the face of the subsisting ambition of an Igbo son, Mr Peter Obi, to contest the presidency on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), is a demonstration of their desire to support competence, rather than sentiment.

According to the statement, the youths maintained that they have no personal issues against Obi, as their overwhelming support for the APC presidential ticket, is borne out of the need to offer Nigerians an opportunity to change their fortunes for the better.

To this end, the youths have appealed to all sons and daughters of South East extraction – both home and in the Diaspora – to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), mobilise support for, and prepare to vote for the realisation of the Tinubu/Shettima ticket.

The statement reads in part: “At this time in the life of our dear nation, we must jettison sentiments, ethnic and religious affiliations, and opt rather for candidates with pan-Nigerian outlook, urbane, cerebral, track records of achievements, and above all, those with unifying capacities.

“We make bold to say that, a Tinubu/Shettima joint ticket, has all that we have enumerated above, hence our resolve to commit to its actualisation and realisation.

“By benefit of hindsight, we will like to remind Nigerians that it was Tinubu’s dogged spirit, and resilient character, that enabled him to weather the storm of seized Local Government Allocations, brought upon Lagos State by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo-led Administration.

“On his part, Shettima braved the odds of biting insurgency in Borno State and enthroned a regime of infrastructure transformation, human-capital development, and religious harmony.

“We, therefore, wonder what other indices are needed to demonstrate capacity and capability to cause growth and development to happen, at a time of want such as we are expressing in the country today”.

It further disclosed that Okigwe, Imo State meeting, which made the resolution to rally support for APC, was a product of thoughtfulness, and introspection on the best way to advance the cause of Ndigbo, as well as the general good of the Nigerian State.

the statement continued: “We are the Conference of Progressive Youth group in the entire South East, and one of the major decision-making youth bodies in the zone.

“We decided to meet today in Okigwe, Imo State, to discuss pressing national issues as it concerns Nigerian politics, and have come up with the following positions, which we shall take back home to all our teeming supporters across the states in the South East and Ndigbo outside the zone.

“After due and extensive consultation, we have decided to endorse the presidential candidate of the APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate Alh Kashim Shettima, for the 2023 presidential election.

“Accordingly, we shall mobilise and go all out for the APC in the zone, as that is the surest way to the realisation of an inclusive South East”.

In the same vein, the youths have rejected the candidate of the LP in next year’s presidential election, Obi, saying he has shown signs of unpreparedness, which may, in the end, jeopardise the chances of Ndigbo for inclusive growth and greater bargain for Igbo presidency.

“We totally reject the social media presidential candidate from our zone, H.E Peter Obi, because he is not prepared for the highest office of the land, and may just jeopardise our chances of Igbo Presidency.

“Our position is informed by the fact that Obi does not have the national spread needed to win the Presidency of Nigeria.

“We have nothing personal against our son, Peter Obi, but we must say that the Presidency is not for unprepared people; it is for serious people, and requires hard work beyond social media noise

“We appeal to all the people of South East to join hands with the APC-led government, in order to deliver Senator Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate come 2023.

Finally, we commend Senator Hope Uzodinma, the Executive Governor of Imo State, for all the people-centred transformational projects he has been executing in the state, even as we note that this is one of its kind in history of the Eastern Heartland”, the statement concluded.

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