The first Senator to represent Adamawa Central in 1999, Abubakar Girei, said the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, is certain to win the 2023 election.

Girei, who was in the Senate between 1999 and 2003 under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but left for the APC after its formation, said in an interview during the weekend in Yola that Tinubu will win in 2023 even if he loses Adamawa State to son of the soil and PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

“I had opportunity of meeting Bola Ahmed Tinubu about 10 days ago and I told him point-blank, ‘Congratulations, Mr President.’ I told him my only worry is that he is likely to win the election without my state,” Girei said.

He said Nigerians recognize Tinubu to be a candidate with proven personal capacity and sense of judgement to identify people with the ability to contribute to fruitful governance.

Girei told the select few journalists at his Yola home: “Nigerians will vote Tinubu because of his evidence of great leadership. And Nigeria needs a known unifier like Tinubu after how President Muhammadu Buhari and APC government have been made to look like they divided the country. Tinubu will remove that completely, as he is known to have built people from different parts of the country.”

On politics in his home Adamawa, Girei also expressed confidence in the APC to hold sway in 2023, stressing that especially after Senator Aishatu Binani bounced back as the party’s governorship candidate, the PDP-ruled state will give way.

He said: “We In APC have put our house in order. With Nuhu Ribadu (who was challenging Binani’s candidacy) accepting Binani as our next governor and with other former governorship aspirants accepting to work for our party, we are coming together with the structures of Ribadu, Abdulrazak Namdas, Wafari Theman and other stakeholders to launch a formidable campaign.”

He added that Binani will win because as House of Representatives member and then Senator, she has proven herself to be a woman with the tendency to render worthy service. (The Nation)