This is as the Presidency has also said that the victory recorded by the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the National Assembly bye elections in Katsina, Bauchi and Kogi States at the weekend was an indication of President Muhammadu Buhari’s acceptance by Nigerians and what will be expected in the 2019 elections.
Briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Malam Garba Shehu, flanked by his colleague in the office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande said that each of the bye elections was considered to be epic in nature.
The Presidential spokesman said that the allegation of bribery for votes and vote-buying was a serious offence and that it was the duty of citizens who have evidence of such infractions to report to the appropriate quarters.
According to him, “One is to say that bribery of voters or vote-buying is an offence in this country, I think that citizens who have evidence regarding this, have a duty to report to the law enforcement agencies, this is the way to help the country.
“Secondly I think that it is not the right attitude for a political party, a so-called opposition leader to conduct their affairs like a militant organization, a political party cannot be run like a militant organization, if you have disagreement on the outcome of an election, they know the process and they know it because they abused it before, you can see this is the clear difference of the kind of democracy the APC administration is trying to put in place from what they are used to.
“(Governor) Willie Obiano of Anambra, same afternoon he won election, president Buhari said congratulations and weldone, we were happy we came second in the elections, that is the way it is.
“We lost a Senate seat in Osun, we didn’t try to bring down the roof, and this that has happened in Cross River (bye election for state assembly), did you hear Adams Oshiomhole saying he wants to shoot people, I think this is the difference we need.”
The briefing primarily was on what he described as “the fabulous shows of the APC in Katsina, Bauchi and Kogi, and even to some extent in Cross River States. All of these coming against the background of Ekiti State.
“It is clear that from election after election, Nigerians are reposing confidence in the Buhari/Osinbajo presidency. Each of these election victories is considered to be epic in nature because none of these elections was an ordinary election.
“We are happy that we have won and on behalf of the president and the acting president, we like to say thank you to Nigerians who continue to repose their confidence in the leadership of the APC administration.
“We also want to thank the leadership of the party at the national level, but equally important, to thank all the party’s apparatchiks deployed to all the campaigns and ensured that all the elections were won handsomely by APC.
“So, we are expressing our gratitude to everyone for these that had happened and to say that with this increasing confidence reposed in the president and the acting president, who are determined more than ever before to leave no stone unturned in order to bring the promised change to Nigerians.”
He said that there were conclusions to be drawn from the victories that the APC recorded in the elections.
Shehu said, “First is to say that these decisive victories are indications that clearly showed Nigerians have spoken that President Buhari maintains his momentum. That these victories place Buhari/Osinbajo presidency in very good stead for next year’s election.
“It is a statement of the fact that the APC will go into election next year with every confidence that the elections will be won and that Nigerians by this statement, will also say that they no longer have time for politics of insult and diversion, mudslinging and ‘monkey dey work, baboon dey chop’ politics of the PDP, and equally important is that these election victories are a clear message to the National Assembly that all that Nigerians are interested in is that the business of government should go on.
“That Nigerians are saying that they are not interested in the drama; they are not interested in the grammar, the subterfuge and all of the games that are being played in the National Assembly.
“I think it is appropriate this time to appeal to the National Assembly to be on the same page with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration so that we can deliver on all of these things.
“There are urgent matters that need to be attended to including matters of shortfall in money supply for the execution of the budget.”
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