Buhari to decide APC campaign kick-off, says Keyamo

Stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, on Wednesday, met in Abuja, but failed to announce the date for the commencement of the party’s presidential campaign, saying Buhari’s diary would determine when the party kick-starts the activities.

The ruling party failed to kick-off its presidential campaign following the crisis within its fold over the composition of the campaign team, weeks after INEC lifted the ban on public campaigns for the 2023 poll.

The National Working Committee, governors, who are members of the party, and the top echelon of the Presidential Campaign Council met on Wednesday at the Transcorps Hilton Hotel, where they received a draft manifesto presented by the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The stakeholders, thereafter, set up a committee to fine-tune the manifesto to conform to the understanding of the ordinary man on the street.

Addressing joo after the meeting, which lasted for about two hours, the spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, said the meeting reached key resolutions.

He said, “We are a very united party; we are working in unison towards one purpose. What we did today (yesterday) was to review the draft of the manifesto. Our candidate is not a candidate that operates on his own. He tries to carry everybody along.”

On when the party would commence its campaign, Keyamo said, “Part of the structure of our campaign involves a presidential dialogue. Mr President is the chairman of our campaign council. We are going to take his diary into consideration in picking and choosing the date.

“But we have all agreed to hit the streets soon. We have agreed on the region where we are going to begin. We have agreed on all the basic things and we just want to carry the leader of the party along, Mr President.”

On when the campaign council would be inaugurated, Keyamo said, “We will announce that to you. There is no date yet, but we will announce that very soon.”

Speaking on campaign funding in a separate interview, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Barrister Felix Morka said, “Campaign funding is still a matter that is still in progress. Our campaign financing is really important. Without it, you can’t do a whole lot of things.”