Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has described the support of 33 state governors for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid as an “unprecedented milestone” in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Soludo, who is the national leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, said the development reflected an unusually broad political consensus on the need to sustain the Federal Government’s economic reforms and pursue national unity, security and shared prosperity.
He stated this at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, in Abuja, on Wednesday, while declaring his party’s support for Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
He said, “APGA believes in the unity of Nigeria. We believe in the security of Nigeria. We believe in the shared prosperity of Nigeria. And that is part of the reason we are throwing our weight behind the President, who symbolises these three pillars—for the Nigeria of today and the Nigeria of tomorrow.
“Mr President, to the best of my knowledge, there is no time in Nigeria’s history that there has been a greater consensus—a political and elite consensus. This is the first time we have about 33 governors seated here in support of a sitting President.
“If you count progressives and you don’t count APGA, it is not complete. APGA is the first party in Nigeria, registered as progressive in 2002. APC came 12 years later.
“In all the history I know about Nigeria, there has never been a time when you have such a constellation and consensus that one man should be re-elected. It has never happened before.”
He called for the unification of progressive forces across the country, arguing that Nigeria needed continuity in its reform programme to move from economic stability to accelerated and broadly shared prosperity.
He also acknowledged the economic challenges facing the country, but maintained that there was a strong political and elite consensus on the necessity of structural reforms.
“In terms of the economic management of this country, there has never been any time in our history when there has been a greater elite consensus about the trajectory of economic reform. Never before! The path that you have chosen—that you have had the courage to take—is a difficult, but necessary and required path. That is why we are joining with you, Mr President.
“I have called before that all progressives in Nigeria must unite. This is an opportunity we must not miss. We must come together for the new Nigeria that we dream about. There is a pathway that is working. In the second term, I believe there will be an acceleration in the transformation—going from stability and reform to shared prosperity. It is the acceleration phase towards what I call pragmatic progressivism.
“That, we must entrench in Nigeria. Why change a winning team? If it is not broken, why fix it? I say to you, Mr President: we are with you. We are a partner in this journey back to Aso Rock, and we will remain your partner in the governance process. We are with you,” Soludo added.
He urged Nigerians to remain committed to the reform process, describing Tinubu’s re-election bid as an opportunity to consolidate the gains of the administration’s policies.