Nigeria's Tinubu Rallies In Lagos Powerbase Before Election

Lagos, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Feb, 2023 ) :Nigeria's ruling party candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday took the last lap of his presidential campaign to his Lagos power base, where he received a triumphant welcome at a packed stadium.

Thousands of people gathered inside the Lagos Teslim Balogun sports complex in the city centre, providing a raucous climax to Tinubu's nationwide road tour four days before election day.

Tinubu, 70, a former Lagos governor and candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress or APC, is one of three frontrunners in an unprecedented competitive race on Saturday to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari who steps down after his allowed two terms.

Arriving in a bus with a slogan "The nation builder", Tinubu appeared on stage with Buhari and appealed to voters to make him their next leader with a vow of "renewed hope".

"All the agenda set in our programme, the renewed hope manifesto, will be pursued diligently, vigorously," he told supporters.

More than 93 million Nigerians are registered to vote in the February 25 election, with their country struggling with growing insecurity and a stumbling economy.

Dubbed the "Godfather of Lagos" for the political influence he wields, Tinubu says his two terms from 1999 to 2007 as Lagos governor give him the experience Nigeria needs.

"I will vote for my father. He is really a father for all of us," said Motunrato Amuda, 29, a caterer wearing a garment in APC's green, blue and red.

A crowd of party supporters ferried in buses arrived at the venue in the morning, singing, dancing and waving the party flags as Afrobeats musicians performed.