A former National Secretary of Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and a chieftain of APC in Delta State, Chief Ovie Frank Kokori has expressed the view that the presidential flagbearer of APC in the 2023 general elections, Ahmed Tinubu has the capacity to take on the cabal and finally rescue Nigeria.
While speaking with journalists on Sunday in his Ovu residence in Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state, Kokori applauded Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s flagbearer for the 2023 general election, stating, “I don’t think there’s a better candidate than Tinubu; who can take on the cabal and rescue Nigeria finally.”
The renowned labour activist, however, warned Tinubu, a Muslim, not to succumb to pressures from powerful party men to pick another Muslim as running mate, noting that such a decision would be insensitive and detrimental to national coherence and unity.
In this regard, he specifically appealed to the Northern leaders and governors to be instrumental to Tinubu’s easy victory come 2023 poll, by eschewing a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Kokori said, “They should bear with him and not impose the Muslim ticket on him. They should take that as a sacrifice because religion and ethnicity have become a major issue in this country. He should be given a free hand to pick a noble Northern Christian and support that Christian.
“The last hope of this country lies with the APC government and I thank Buhari for making the last primary free and fair without succumbing to blackmail.
“I pray for our country and I pray that Tinubu will not forget where he is coming from as God has given him this opportunity to put his name in gold.”
Kokori lamented that “the cabal has been the cause of the socio-economic woes bedevilling the country in the past seven years,” just as he noted with concern that “the cabal has been in charge of this country all the years of Buhari’s rule.”
According to him, “even though the President is a good man, he allowed persons with self-serving interest around him to derail his focus.”
He spoke further, “Tinubu winning this election is hallelujah to me! He is the only strong personality who can break the cabal that has been in charge of this country all the years of Buhari’s rule.
“The joy I have on the result of the primary election is because I knew that among all the aspirants, Tinubu is the only one who will have the guts to step on toes.
“He is the only person who can take on the cabal that has put Nigeria in hostage for the past seven years. He broke the myth surrounding the cabal.
“Buhari is a good man, no doubt about that, but he is not in touch with the people in the country and with what is happening in this country, because he surrounded himself with a cabal that is so ruthless and who always struggles for their personal aggrandizement to the extent that they monetise public positions in this country.
“He (Buhari) gave all his power to his cabal and as a result, those people without connection in the country are not able to be in position of power.
“Most of the problems we have in this nation are not being solved because of the same reason. Nobody should pretend; we all know that most of the positions in the country were being monetised and sold out by the cabal.”
On Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’sbhealth, Kokori said; “there is no cause for alarm inasmuch as a terminal ailment is out of the equation.”
He added, “I was worried about his health. But I know that once a person crosses the age of 50, he tends to face different health challenges and that is normal in the whole world. Buhari himself had this challenge but today, he is one of the fittest persons. So, his health challenges should not be a problem so long he doesn’t have a terminal disease.”
Kokori urged Tinubu to reciprocate the good gestures of the teeming population by lifting Nigeria from the low spirit pervading the country.