Agency reports,
VICE Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Archbishop Isaac Idahosa, has dismissed the recent prediction by Fitch, a global rating company, that the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, would win the 2023 presidential election.
He described the Fitch report and the outcomes of other poll surveys, ahead of the forthcoming elections, as fake and “paid for”, saying his party would spring surprises nationwide, considering the political structures and alliances it was building across the country.
Idahosa spoke at a colloquium organized by Kwankwasiyya Development Foundation to mark the 66th birthday of his principal, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
The theme of the conference is ‘Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria: The Legacy of Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’.
Speaking, the NNPP vice presidential candidate said: “Forget about those polls and ratings. They are paid for. When the votes are cast, then all eyes will be clear. We are not here to debate about the polls.
“Anyone could have sat down wherever he is, and conduct his polls.
‘’I could choose today to rise and conduct polls. Of course, you don’t expect a teacher to fail himself, but the reality will show shortly.
“Nigerians should just await the surprises that are about to be foretold. We are in the 2023 presidential race to win it. We are the party to beat.”
Asked how many votes the NNPP had secured ahead of the polls, he said: “We don’t begin to count our chicks before they are hatched, but just wait for the surprise that will spring up in a short while.”
Earlier, Idahosa’s principal and NNPP presidential candidate, Kwankwaso, reeled out the humanitarian achievement’s of the foundation, especially in the area of education, revealing that he had to sell some of his properties to ensure that he provided both local and overseas scholarships to students in Kano, Nigeria and Africa.
According to him, the kind of leadership he would provide the nation, if elected in 2023, would be totally different from what the other political parties had offered and are offering.
Kwankwaso explained that his political group was concerned about the general development of the nation.
He said, “I’m happy to say that in the 2019 election in Kano, we (Kwankwasiyya movement) had no governor, no minister, no serving or former member (House of Representatives). We had just these young men and women and we were able to win our election for the governorship.
“And that was why I was encouraged to create the scholarship scheme for our young men and women. When we advertised in 2019, believing that there are few people who are first class, we exhausted them in Kano. Second class upper we exhausted them. We went on to second class lower levels when I left government in 2015.
“We had over three thousand of them going to 14 countries across the world. I’m also happy that we sponsored students in Nigeria private universities in Nigeria’s. More than 412 benefited and over 3000 were sent abroad. They are in different sets all sponsored by the Kwankwasiyya foundation.
“I feel the best investment for any politician is education because I was trained in Kano, in northern Nigeria. And Nigeria can only grow if we have educated people. When I was governor, we were able to feed our children in primary schools, return them to school.
“I realised that I had a few things that I didn’t need, and I had to sell almost all things that I didn’t directly require for myself to pay for the scholarships.
“Our scholarship was not only for Kano indigenes. It was for residents, people who are living in Kano because we believe in the fact that where you live is your home.
“Today, they have an association of those who collected our uniforms in primary schools. They are in millions,” I thank all my brothers and sisters, my friends across the countrymen who supported the foundation,” Kwankwanso said.
Also speaking, the President of Kwankwasiyya Scholars and Kwankwasiyya Development, Dr Yusuf Kofarmata, said the former Kano governor’s altruistic efforts to improve the lives of the downtrodden would live on in history and do much to immortalize his place in the country.
“You have already set yourself apart from the selfish, demagogic politicians, thanks to each contribution. We hope that in a few months, Nigeria will be prosperous and peaceful under your leadership as the most admired political figure in Kano, the North and Nigeria as a whole,” he said
On his part, Prof. Alfred Mathias Ebi, the Head of Department, Peace and Security Studies, Mewar International University, Nasarawa state, said there is hope for the country, if it can get its leadership right in 2023.
According to him, “What we have to do is to get our leadership right. Once we are able to get it right every other thing will fall into place.
“The average Nigerians want to see a leader that goes to bed thinking about those citizens are poor, hungry and downtrodden. Nigerians are not a complex people to lead. We don’t demand too many.
