Tinubu pivots to firing verbal shots at the man he helped become President
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bola Tinubu has pivoted to criticising Muhammadu Buhari after seven years of keeping mum on the failings of the man he helped become President in 2015 for his own selfish ambition to manipulate the system and rule Nigeria after the Northerner.
Tinubu at a rally of youths in Lagos took potshots at Nigerian leaders, without exempting Buhari, for failing to address lingering problems he is now gearing up to tackle if he wins Aso Rock in 2023.
“We feel your anger when you are angry. I don’t blame you, the promises of the past have failed to realise that you build a future from the [outset], from kindergarten.
“We cannot continue the lamentation of the past,” he told hundreds of young people bussed in to declare their support for his presidential run.
Buhari and Tinubu both belong to the All Progressives Party (APC).
Tinubu said the promises of a better Nigeria by past administrations have not been attained, and encouraged the youth to ignore the pains of such failed promises.
Buhari hinged his campaign in 2015 and 2019 on three main planks: to improve security, fight corruption, and grow the economy.
Boko Haram began its insurgency limited to the North East in 2009, before Buhari won the Villa, but killings and kidnappings by various other groups North and South of River Niger are now everyday occurrences on his watch.
The economy has also got worse with inflation at unprecedented levels, and Buhari is repeatedly criticised for undermining his own battle against corruption.
Tinubu, former Lagos Governor, indirectly took a swipe at Buhari for failing to deliver on his promises of “a better Nigeria”. But he was direct in his criticism of Buhari for having called the youth lazy.
“We cannot continue with excuses or NEPA failure. No. No nation can make rapid development without electricity.
“Give us that and if we cannot be successful, then you can abuse us. But you cannot give us erratic electricity that is undependable and then blame us again that we are lazy.
“No. We have enough gas to fire up our electricity. We can supply the rest of Europe with gas and we can make money.”
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Tinubu repeats false claim that PVC expires
Tinubu presented himself as the best candidate who deserves the support of Nigerians and urged the youth to forget the failure of the past and obtain their permanent voter cards (PVCs) before the 2023 ballot, per PREMIUM TIMES.
He, however, repeated his false claim that PVCs expire, despite clarification by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) this is not true when he first floated the lie at the APC Women Conference in Abuja in January.
His words: “If you have no PVC, if you have no revalidation of that PVC, you don’t know whether it has expired. Don’t forget that there is an expiring date, even if you have cash.
“So, go and revalidate the card. Those of you who have not registered must go there. You can’t be part of 1.4 billion people on Instagram and have no card for God’s sake.”
Tinubu encouraged the youth to vote for him in the coming APC primary so he can replicate across the country his performance when he governed Lagos from 1999 to 2017.
“When I started, we used to pick dead bodies on the street. Today, Lagos is one of the cleanest of progressive states. We deserve your clap.
“Some of you would not have been able to sit for WAEC [exam] if not for the payment by our government. You were beneficiaries. Clap for that and you must vote.
“If you vote for that, you can create the path for free education at the university level. We can build a new Nigeria where prosperity will not be isolated or limited to the family of the [rich].”