All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential standard bearer Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday described himself as the candidate to beat in next year’s election.
He said there was no contender for the highest office who can match his track record.
The eminent politician spoke on his records, wealth and the economy in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Africa Service, monitored by The Nation.
Also yesterday, the APC Presidential Campaign Council dissected the manifesto of the Labour Party (LP) candidate, saying it cannot offer any refreshing relief to Nigerians.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it was not impressed by Tinubu’s performance at the Chatham House, London, on Monday.
The Director of Strategic Communication of Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation, Dele Momodu, said in a statement that it was “a complete charade”.
But, the APC Presidential Campaign Council defended Tinubu, saying he demonstrated capacity, competence, experience and the worth of leadership.
Describing himself as the most competent candidate, Tinubu said other contenders were not up to the task.
He said: “Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar are not competent. They are not as competent as any other person out there. They’ve no track record, none of them is qualified except me.”
Expressing optimism that next year’s polls will be free and fair, Tinubu said: “Things are going very well. I’m very confident that this election will be free and fair. I’m the frontrunner, and that’s why I’m getting many arrows.
“My top priorities are security, and economic recovery to accelerate development to get Nigerians employed and get inflation down. You know, monetary policy needs to be changed. Subsidy needs to be decided upon and then, removed.
“Insecurity in Nigeria is reduced, and I will defend him (Buhari) for that. Then, in 17 local and about four states, we had flags of foreign jihadists in Nigeria. That’s no more; that’s long gone.
“To start chaos is easy, to bring normalcy and redecorate is more difficult. Here we are, Buhari has degraded, but not eliminated ISWAP. We need mass recruitment of individuals in a volunteer army to clean up.
“I’m different. I am Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I have governed Lagos. I built a modern state that could be a country on its own. I’ve led an administration that’s so prudent, from N600 million internally generated revenue to N5 billion a month.
“That’s a record. Nobody else can brag about that. I’ve treated and tamed the Atlantic Ocean surge in Nigeria that would have perished so many people in Lagos. The infrastructural renewal of Lagos is excellent. I have continuity in Lagos.
“Buhari has done his best, he’s my leader in the party.” -Nation.
