YAHYA SARKI, writes on the recent visit of President Muhammadu Buhari and his campaign team to Kebbi State ahead of next month’s general elections.
Kebbi State showed that it is the home of ruling party the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari last week. The large crowd that welcomed the party and the President during the campaign indicated that much.
The campaign schedule of Mr. President’s visit to Sokoto and Kebbi States was on Tuesday January 22 2019 to both states. Even when news filtered in that the president’s visit was shifted to January 23, the people were not dettered.
The state publicity secretary of the party, Alhaji Sani Dododo, had briefed the press at Government House Birnin Kebbi ahead of the coming of Buhari to the state.
He said in view of the visit of the president to Kebbi, the state campaign committee under the leadership of chief of staff to the governor, Alhaji Suleiman Argungu has suspended the ongoing governorship campaign to local government areas till after the august visitor leaves.
This he said was to enable the Kebbi State Government and the ruling APC in the state prepare fully to welcome the president. ‘’ Let me seize this opportunity to tell members of the press that President Buhari is scheduled to come to Kebbi on 22/1/2019 on campaign visit. This visit is historic to us and we are happy about it.
“In view of the president’s visit, we have suspended our campaign to fully prepare for the coming of the president to Kebbi. I call on all people of the state who are lovers of PMB to come out in their large numbers to welcome this great man to Kebbi State, ‘Land of Equity ‘ “ Dododo said.
Kebbi State is one of the states with large followers of Buhari that cut across even the opposition parties. Therefore, the visit of the President to the state is very vital to the ruling APC at the federal level.
The state is now seen as very strategic to Buhari in the North west following the defection of Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal to PDP and the political imbroglio that engulfed the APC in Zamfara State following the party’s primary election which led to INEC not recognising the governorship candidate of the party.
Kebbi is now viewed as the command centre of APC in North west because so far, the state has remained united and intact for APC with minimal challenge from the major opposition party, PDP and other parties.
Incidentally, the party is growing day by day in the state receiving key political figures from the PDP with their numerous supporters. The gale of defection is really hitting the PDP in the state.
The governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu was able to unite and bind the party together paving way for notable political figures to dump PDP to join APC with hundreds of their followers.
Just recently, the PDP state secretary and the party chairman where the PDP governorship candidate, Isah Galaudu came from, dumped the party and joined APC. The incumbent Kebbi State Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former chairman of Danko Wasagu local government area, Alhaji Muhammad Zaure Sakaba announced his defection to the ruling APC at Government House in Birnin Kebbi at the instance of governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and top APC executives.
Sakaba said his defection to APC was informed by the monumental development of the APC-led administration in Kebbi and Nigeria as a whole. That same day also, barely 20 hours after the state secretary of PDP, Alhaji Muhammad Zaure Sakaba dumped the party for APC, another chieftain of the party, Muhammad Musa Bayawa, the party chairman of Augie local government area where the PDP governorship candidate comes from, also joined the ruling APC alongside his supporters.
Another vital reason why the President’s visit to Kebbi is so vital to the APC-led administration is that the state is seen as the platform where Mr. President launched his economic diversification agenda through the Anchor Borrowers Programme that has helped the country ‘s food production, especially the rice farming.
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At the eve of the visit, the state capital Birnin Kebbi wore a new look as posters and billboards portraying the pictures of the president, vice president and governor Bagudu were either erected or posted, while major roundabouts and pavements were painted. Governor Bagudu on arrival from national council of state meeting in Abuja visited the stadium to inspect the preparation at the venue.
On the day of the President’s visit to Kebbi State, the Haliru Abdu stadium Birnin Kebbi in the Kebbi State capital, venue for the Kebbi APC presidential campaign was filled to capacity and brimming over with APC supporters, eager to catch a glimpse of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The APC supporters from all the 21 local government areas of the state beautifully dressed in APC colours filled the 20,000 capacity stadium waving and shouting “Sai Baba Buhari”. Tribal groups, youth and women associations were also not left out.
School children holding and waving flags also lined up at major streets in the state to welcome the august visitor to Kebbi.
The APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari arrived Kebbi accompanied by top echelon of the party at the national level. Among those who accompanied Buhari included, APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; minister of transport and the president’s campaign Director General, Rotimi Amaechi; Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari; Lagos State governor Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State, among others.
The host governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, started his speech by reassuring President Buhari that people in the state would bring huge percentage of votes than all the states of the federation in the general election. He said people of the state were solidly behind the president and would vote for him in the 2019 election.
He said APC had in the last three years, strengthened unity among the political class and facilitated industrial and agricultural development in the state.
“This has been manifested by the establishment of WACOT Rice Mill in Argungu, Kamba Rice Mill and the proposed Dangote Rice Mill in Saminaka, Dugu-Raha, in Shanga Local Government Area as well as Lagos and Kebbi Rice,” he said.
According to him, all the state democratically elected officials from 1999 to date are in APC. “All the former governors, former deputy governors, former ministers and many national assembly members from 1999 to date are in APC.
“All the deputy governors and politicians from that period to date are united in the same party; all courtesy of the support and encouragement we have been receiving from Mr President,” he said.
Also speaking, the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, said Nigerians would only vote a person who is not a thief, adding that former leaders who criticised the president were doing it out of their sheer personal interest and gain.
“These people don’t want to see the common man progress; they envy Buhari for his policies in making sure that the common man is transformed and changed progressively better in this country,” he said.
When it came to his turn to address the large crowd of APC supporters in Kebbi, President Buhari who mounted the podium holding a broom, the symbol of APC, promised people of Kebbi State that his administration would extend the railway project from Gusau to reach Kebbi State.
He said his administration would ensure that the railway project which commenced from Gusau in Zamfara State was extended to Sokoto and Kebbi State.
“My administration will extend the railway project to Kebbi State which will come from Gusau to reach Sokoto and finally reach Kebbi State “, he said.
President Buhari thanked people of the state for their unflinching support to his administration and the giant strides the state recorded in agriculture which according to him has helped the country in stopping importation of foreign rice.
The president also reiterated his zeal to continue to fight corruption and recover looted funds for Nigeria’s development. “When I came on campaign in 2015 ,I promised to provide security, fight corruption and improve the economy.
We have achieved peace in Borno and Yobe, we are trying to improve the economy and we are fighting corruption to recover looted funds” he warned.
Highlights of the president’s campaign visit included a courtesy call to emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Muhammadu Iliyasu Bashar, performance by various artistes within and outside the state including Rarara, the APC musician and performance by Kannywood actors from Kano State at the stadium.
