Senator Suleiman Uthman Hunkuyi, the New Nigeria Peoples Party's (NNPP) governorship candidate in Kaduna State, believes that the All Progressives Congress (APC), currently in power, is already headed toward defeat as a result of its adoption of the same-faith ticket for the general elections in 2023.
He claimed that the APC had let Nigerians down with its economic strategy and that they would make restitution by ousting the party from office in 2023.
The APC has already lost the election, according to Suleiman Hunkuyi, who was speaking to journalists in Kaduna on Wednesday.
“I’m talking not only as a politician but I’m talking as a realist. I told you structures don’t win election, goodwill does win election…Go back and ask the people, APC has lost election because they have lost the confidence of the people.”
” The PDP has ran this country for 16 or 18 years or thereabouts. After doing that, they came back, they apologized for their outing. Today, whether people are willing to go back to PDP or not, you know better.”
“But like I said again, we had 3 parties,2 candidates. Now we are having additional parties with may be, additional candidates. But some parties don’t have candidates, even if they have, they are moles.”
“I contested for the ticket of the governorship of Kaduna State once in my life. That’s under the ANPP in 2003.All other attempts was to secure a ticket which, hitherto, the problem of internal democracy of these parties never allowed.”
“Few people determine who to issue ticket to, and that’s part of the albatross of the PDP today. The emergence of people oriented ticket carrying members, the NNPP as a credible alternative platform.”
“We decided to bring the structure of the NNPP fresh, new, take it to the people, put whosoever you desire as your chairman, your secretary, your organizing secretary, your women leader,…everybody come, put whoever you want within that ward, within that Local Government to lead the party. “
“So also when we came for the primary election. We didn’t had that kind of rancour, that kind of injustices that we’ve seen where a sitting Senate President under a party would go and lynched a ticket belonging to somebody, and them come back to tell us that is democracy?”
“We have seen it. We’ve seen how Wike lost the ticket. Was it straightforward election? That is the PDP. Therefore as I’ve told you, structures don’t win elections ,the people determine who wins election and that is goodwill. Hunkuyi, Kwankwaso, the NNPP, we cash on our goodwill.”
On the controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket, the NNPP gubernatorial candidate said ” this is the interesting part of politics. First of all, Hunkuyi will not do Muslim-Muslim ticket in Kaduna State. I won’t do it because as a detailed politician, I see and recognise the cosmopolity of my dear state. I recognise the interest of those Muslims and Christians. It is not the only way to go, so why should I go that way?”
“I want APC to lose election and they’ve taken the route to losing election. As far as I’m concerned, that helps my situation, that helps my party, that helps the Nigerian people because you cannot finish wrecking the economy of a nation the way APC does and today, come with the issue of religious fanatism. It won’t work, it can’t work, it is not correct, it won’t sail through.”
“Fact of the matter is that Muslim or Christian today, you’ve to eat and to eat, you require food. Food on the table for Muslims and for Christians.is the same price. One bag of maize 15 thousand, one bag of fertilizer 32 or 35 thousand. Indeed, that is economics of the APC and that is to tell you whether they come with the Muslim-Muslim, whether they come with Christian-Christian, whether they come with Muslim-Christian or they come with Christian-Muslim, APC will lose election.”
“Because no matter what, because for Nigerians that’s not the first question for determination. The first question for determination is how did you manhandled our Naira? From N198 to the Dollar when APC took over power in 2015 , how did we arrive today at 740 to the Dollar? Let the Christian man answer the question, let the Muslim man answer the question.”
“Truth will bear everybody witness of what everybody has done. The APC has wrecked Nigeria and Nigerians would turn their will and pay APC in the same coin,” he said.