This was disclosed by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Yakubu Ajaka, at a town hall meeting with young Nigerians in diaspora on Saturday night in London, The Punch reports.
The claim made by Ajaka runs in contrast to the popular notion held by political analysts that the average Nigerian youth gravitates towards the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, due to his more cerebral appearance and youth-oriented ideology.
However, the APC deputy spokesman expressed a contrary view, saying that the noise about Obi is limited to the social media space.
Ajaka said, “I am convinced beyond every reasonable doubt that it is only Tinubu, who understands the youths better, that can give our youths and indeed, the young men in the diaspora, the opportunity to participate and contribute to the rebirth of a new Nigeria.
“He has the advantage of combining both the legislative and executive experiences for a more united and prosperous Nigeria which other candidates do not have. As a governor in South West Nigeria, Tinubu had equalled to none and employed the services of young Nigerians from other states to serve in his cabinet.”
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Sunday, July 31, 2023, the APC deputy spokesman encouraged the youths, especially those in diaspora, to work toward reversing the tag of corruption and doomsday prophecy on the country.
The statement read in parts, “We have several candidates contesting the Presidency, however, we have three strong frontline candidates namely Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the APC, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party. They are referred to as frontline candidates because of their experience in the public service having served as Vice President and State Governors giving them an edge over others. The three candidates also have the largest spread of political structures and offices across the country.
“As it is common with developing democracies such as ours, the selection of candidates for the parties always comes with various challenges, mostly bordering on sentiments such as religion, ethnicity, and geo-political arrangements. The cry of marginalisation has also become a common and popular feature among politicians and the electorate.
“These sentiments had been into play all our political life for quite a long time. Unfortunately, we seem to throw away competence, capacity, and qualification to these sentiments. This is partly responsible for our present predicament with no benefit to even the agitators of such sentiments.”
Tinubu will contest the February 2023 presidential election with other leading candidates including Obi, and former Vice President, Alahji Atiku Abubakar.
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