Non-state actors, not politicians threatening general election, says Keyamo

Minister of State, Labor and Employment and Chief Spokesperson of Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Festus Keyamo (SAN) held talks with OBIRE ONAKEMU on how non-state actors threaten the peaceful conduct of general elections and factors favorable to All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

As the 2023 general election draws near, what is your view on political developments in Nigeria? We have made tremendous progress, no matter what. Our political development since 1999 has been slow, but steadily growing.

We have gradually moved from an unacceptable election to a stage where our electoral process has become cleaner and more internationally acceptable, and for me, this is progress. And that's what has sustained the greatest streak of political experience we've had since 1960.

Are you worried about the upcoming election? I am an activist and I envisage no fear. We have now become accustomed to our pre-election nudge and it has now become our fear. Before any election, you would think there would be Armageddon. In 2003 it was feared that the sky would collapse but everything came and went, so did 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. In fact, 2015 was even more abusive and controversial but everything came and went. In 2019 it felt like Armageddon would be here, but it has come and gone. Nigeria has a way of moving in every election, and now for us, we are beginning to understand that our country comes before any individual ambition. We are beginning to understand this and that is why Nigerians are not willing to accept election violence. If you have to look at it today, Nigerians are so interdependent in terms of friendship, marriages and all that and very difficult for you. not to see any of your friends on opposite sides that day. They are everywhere.

Why do you think Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is more competent than the other candidates? And what are his chances of winning the presidential election? Well, this question is both objective and subjective. Objective because in my mind, Asiwaju is objective enough for everyone to accept; because it is political terrain; what appears objective to me is subjective to another person. Someone looks at my status and says these factors are not strong enough. He knows they are strong enough but he does not want to admit them publicly because he wants to devalue my candidate.

But let me tell you this, beyond all the noise we make, it all boils down to what you've done before? How can we trust you? Are you trusted based on the assumption you made in your campaign? Do we trust you based on government projections that you made based on calculations or simple factors that you mentioned that are not verifiable? In terms of performance criteria in public office, Tinubu is taller and above other candidates.

Tinubu has a history of performance; vision history; history of building and fighting for democratic institutions, you know that such a particular president will also uphold all the principles of democracy, which are necessary to build on our democracy.

We need a president who values ​​democracy; who knows the importance of democracy; who knows what democracy really entails and who will not put our democracy at risk and that candidate is Tinubu.

Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organization recently said that the coordination structure of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council was already falling apart, with members becoming disoriented following a series of criminal allegations against your candidate. How will you react to this? It's a comment from an opposition that doesn't even have a house; it doesn't have all the governors campaigning for them; which has no key members joining their presidential campaign council and no key governors coming out of their presidential campaign. This is a statement from a party that today spends half of its campaign airtime responding to each other - either Wike's side responding to Atiku's side, or Atiku's side responding to Wike's camp. They don't campaign.

So such a comment from this party is wrong. You speak against a party which is united; who has shown cohesion; that all her governors are on board; all APC alumni are on board; all NEC members on board; all APC members are on board and the president is on board. What else do you want? What else do you want for party unity? What else? The baseless allegation they are trying to raise died when clearance documents started flying from the US Embassy in the past.

Nigeria has gone above and beyond. The PDP is a party that has taken its breath away...