2023: Presidency should be contest of ideas, not where you come from- Lawan

by The Ajasa News | May 27, 2022 2:09 pm

***Says the APC primaries will be a closely fought primaries

***Assures FCT of mayoralty status

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said on Thursday that the race for presidency of Nigeria should be a contest of ideas and not where one comes from.

Lawan said he has offered himself for the job because he possessed the essentials that would make him an effective and efficient President of Nigeria.

He made the remarks in Abuja while addressing the All Progressives Congress(APC) leaders and particularly the delegates from the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).

Lawan said: “I stand here before you to tell you why I believe that I have what it takes. The social, political and educational wherewithal, the essentials that will make me an effective and efficient President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after President Muhammadu Buhari finishes his tenure.

“For me, I am not an ethnic or geo political candidate. Infact I always look forward to having the best from any part of Nigeria. So because I ran for this office and because I am from the North should not be any reason for me to say that somebody from another part of the country, for example, from the southern part of the country, cannot be President.

“I present my credentials that I have, with all humility the requisite training, the requisite experience and the network and links across the country to make Nigeria greater.

“So let this contest be a contest of ideas. Not contest of where someone is coming from. I respect all the distinguished aspirants and I believe that whoever has the opportunity can serve well. But I will say that I can serve better.

“I am in between the old and the young. Only 63 years. So I can link up with the old ones because I am a young old man and I am also an old young man.

“But above all and on a very serious note, I have seen, I have practice governance in a very close range.Today, I am working with the President, President Muhammadu Buhari very closely. As the President of the Senate, we also have reasons to engage, to interact for the development of our country.

“We have supported Mr President. We have supported the APC administration without let or hindrance. We have done so because we believe that the Legislature and the Executive arm of government are APC. So why the fight.

“We are supposed to have the same programmes, the same manifestoes, whether you are in the Legislature or the Executive. What is expected of us as members of APC in the National Assembly is to support our President, our Presidency, our Government to deliver services to the people of Nigeria.

“And that is what we have been doing over the last three years and that is what we will do until when this administration will complete it’s tenure.

“So I want to start from where Mr President will stop. I want to consolidate from where Mr President would have finished. I want to continue all those very successful work and services that President Muhammadu Buhari will provide to Nigerians.

“I have no doubt in my mind that this administration has gotten so many things right. It has done so many things that are successful. Some are not as successful. Some are not at all. For those that are so successfully done, we need to build on them. We need to consolidate. We need to make them the legacies of APC administration in this country.

“For those that are not as successful, we need to rework the strategies. We need to look at how we can make them do better. We need to work to ensure that they are optimised. For those that we have not gotten them right at all, we have to go back to the drawing board.

“I am a product of this party. I believe in this party. It is my duty to ensure that this party continue to win. I can win this election for us by the Grace of God. Just give me your votes and your votes will be investments in improved security for our people. Your votes will be investments in improved

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