…Pledges 100% Votes For Party’s Candidates
Leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, on Tuesday, February 7, took delivery of 12 campaign vans from the Arewa Community in the Lagos State.
The vehicles, according to the leadership of the community, are in support of the APC campaign for the general election coming up on February 25 and March 11, to underscore their unflinching support for the presidential bid of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the second term aspiration of the state governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, as well as other candidates of the part across board.
Presenting the branded vehicles on Tuesday evening at the APC secretariat of the community along Palmgrove area of Yaba, the state Chairman of the Arewa Community in APC, Engineer Saadu Gulma Yusuf Dandare, said, “It is in fulfilment of the Arewa community’s promise of total support for the party in the state, most especially the aspiration of the former governor of the state, Asiwaju Tinubu, to become the next President of the Federal republic of Nigeria on May, 29, 2023.”
Dandare informed that the support would percolate down to all the candidates under the ticket of the party, from the governor through the members of the two National Assembly chambers, to the state House of Assembly flag bearers of the party, assuring the party of 100 per cent of the votes of members of the Arewa community in Lagos State.
Collecting the keys of the vehicles from Dandare, on behalf of Tinubu and the governor of Lagos State, Sanwo-Olu, the state APC chairman, Hon. Cornelius Oyefolu Ojelabi, thanked the community for its support and cordial relationship between the Arewa people and the natives, as well as with other ethnic nationalities in Lagos.
Ojelabi said, “We want to appreciate the good things you have been doing for the state and the party. We always appreciate your stand on unity and peace. You are trust-worthy and committed to the path of truth. Your yes is always yes and your no is always no. That is why you are good relationship managers.”
The state APC chairman, who described the Arewa community as “our blood brothers and sisters,” commended them for their immense contributions to the commerce, economy and political stability of the state, assuring them that the political patronage the state has extended to them would not cease but increase.
Also speaking at the event, Director of Ethnic Affairs in Lagos Independent Campaign Group, ICG, the umbrella campaign organisation of the Lagos APC, the Executive Chairman, Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area, Hon. Fatai Adekunle Ayoola, expressed delight over the total assimilation of the Arewa community into the indigenous setting of the state, describing their relationship with the people and government of the state as very robust and heart-warming.
Ayoola urged them to continue in that manner, as the state is taking note of that, which he said would be more appreciated as usual.
The Director-General, DG, Arewa Support Movement for APC, Muhammed Maikano Lawal, chipped in that, the Tuesday event was just the official commissioning of the vehicles, even as he informed that “we have been providing the APC logistics in form of campaign vans across the South-West, before these and we will continue to do so.”
He revealed further that “as we speak, more are still on the way.”
Lawal, however, corrected the erroneous impression that Arewa community is peopled only by the Hausa Fulani, saying that the community is all-encompassing, with the inclusion of all the ethnic nationalities residents in the Northern axis of the country, like the Igala, the Tivs, the Gwaris, the Ebiras, Jukuns, Kanuris and Nupes, to mention just a few.
CompassNG independently learnt reliably that the community has donated not less than 150 vehicles to the APC in the South-West, showing the strong affinity the Arewa community and the APC are enjoying between themselves.
The Arewa community is a political movement in support of the APC, with the belief that the party will bring in the required change and progress in areas of infrastructural development, healthcare delivery, youth development and women empowerment, as well as security and social welfare of the citizenry.
And their coming together, according to their charter, was aimed at ensuring a harmonious relationship between the Arewa community, the government, the party, and all Arewa Support Groups; and for the platform to leverage on their numerical strength for members to actively participate in the activities of the various support groups to add value to government and its activities.
Their objectives also include building capacity for the members for active participation in the party and government affairs, as well as to encourage all members to contest elective positions with a view to strengthening democracy.
Also present at the carnival-like event were the APC apex leader, Prince Rabiu Adio Oluwa, leader of Arewa Community in APC, Lagos West 2, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko Auna and Arewa APC Woman Leader, Barrister (Hajia) Fatima Bako, who led the Northern women, who entertained the audience with flawless assorted Yoruba political sing-songs that electrified the occasion and made it memorable and unforgettable.
