A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC),Chief Segun Ajibulu has admonished the party and supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stop the ongoing endorsement jamboree and focus on showcasing the achievements of the ruling party .
Ajibulu, former senatorial aspirant in Ekiti State said the gale of endorsement for Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election , is fast becoming a distraction to President ,urging them to redirect their energies towards showcasing the lofty achievements of the APC led Federal Government in the last two years .
Speaking with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti Ajibulu who hailed the defections of some key members of the opposition, including serving and former governors into the APC fold ,however dismissed the notion that the country is heading towards a one Party State.
Ajibulu asked rhetorically “how can people be shouting about an attempt to turn Nigeria into a one party state. When that could not happen under President Olusegun Obasanjo when Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) captured about 30 states ? There was even a time when the whole of southwest was being control by the PDP except Lagos. .Interestingly, majority of the people in the so called coalition today were party of the arrangements then and they were happy with it . They were even robbing it our faces that PDP will rule Nigeria for 60 years . But look at Alhaji Atiku Abubakar ,Rotimi Amachi and El- Rufai and others, they were all members of the PDP during those era.
“I would advise that, rather than making unnecessary notice about their failure and inability to manage their egos and inordinate political ambitions, they should be humbled enough to learn from Tinubu on how he was able to stand and withstand Obasanjo’s political intimidation.
“If its possible let go and start from the ground zero. I think they still have ample time do that. Nigerians would want to see how far they can go.
Reinforcing his position on showcasing Tinubu’s achievements, the APC chieftain said :
He said ” all these endorsement jamboree ,to me ,is unnecessary , I dont think this is what President Tinubu needs now , because nobody has come out to say he or she wants contest against him in APC. So organizing endorsement jamboree up and down,isn’t strategic .What people want to hear now is how the various economic policies are impacting on the peoples lives .We (APC members) should be able to explain this, point by point, to the people. The opposition is always quick to say Tinubu had done nothing, it is not incumbent on us to prove them strong through our evidence based arguments.
” Though, things were really messed up before Tinubu took over power but the little he has been able to do to keep the econimic afloat must be explained to the people. Before the assumption of Tinubu ,many states used to borrow money to pay salary. If they have money to pay salary how we be even talking about development. If not the courageous policies intridudec by Tinubu, the situation would have chaotic by now.
On how to salvage the soaring prices of food and other consumables in the open market , Ajibulu urged Tinubu to urgently consider setting up a Price Regulatory Agency to break the monopoly of current market forces.
“One thing I still suggest to Mr President is to set up Price Control Agency in order to check the exploitative activities of the middle men .Prices of commodities are high in the market because there is no regulation. Even in America .government has regulatory agency. They dont just allow market forces to determine the prices of commodities .We can just allow some people to be milking the system dry while majority are suffering. But it is like Mr President believes in free and open market. I think something needs to be done about this for people to feel impact of his policies.
On the issue of Local Government Autonomy ,Ajibulu urged Tinubu not to relent in his efforts to win the battle for the people at the grassroots .
” I also want Mr President to ensure that the autonomy granted the Local Governments in Nigeria is enforceable. Many governors are still grandstanding on the matter .Unless the people at the grassroots are allowed to feel the impact governance, nothing tangible would be achieved and the only way to achieve that is through functional and effective local government administration.
He ,however charged Nigerians to support President Tinubu in his quest to free local government from the clutches of the governors.
“Many governors are collrcting trillions of naira as allocation but still stifling local governments with funds .Our focus should not be on President Tinubu alone .A lot money is coming to the states now, let’s hold our governors accountable. Let them explain how they spend this humongous funds coming from the centre. ” Ajibulu said .