The Southwest zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has vowed to provide President Bola Tinubu with the same kind of electoral support that the late former President Muhammadu Buhari received from the Northwest zone.

According to the party, to achieve its target, it has initiated and designed a strategy targeting the recruitment of no fewer than 2,000 canvassers across every electoral ward in the six states of the zone.

While disclosing this after a strategic meeting of the Southwest Zonal Executive Committee of the party in Akure on Wednesday, the APC Zonal Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, stressed that the region, being the President’s home zone, must spearhead the campaign for his re-election, necessitating immediate and extensive groundwork.

With the meeting attended by state party chairmen and National Executive Council (NEC) members from the Southwest, Kekemeke explained that the committee assessed Tinubu’s administration and reviewed its socio-economic policies and development programs, passing a positive verdict on his government.

Kekemeke, who stated that the committee’s evaluation was also reinforced by external validation, maintained that Tinubu deserves a second term to consolidate his reforms.

He said, “Nigerians are beginning to feel the results of the bold initiative and socio-economic transformation that is happening in Nigeria. Prices of things are beginning to stabilise and come down, the foreign exchange is coming down, debts are being paid, and Nigeria is becoming internationally respectable.

“Nigeria refused, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to become a dumping ground for refugees of some Americans, and Nigeria was respected as one country that stood up and said no.

“So, there is international respectability for Nigeria both politically and economically, and we think that all of these must be consolidated. There must be consolidation of this tenure so that after President Tinubu’s eight years, Nigeria can continue to march forward.

“So, we are convinced that the President is the best thing that has happened to our country, even though we acknowledge that these reforms have brought about pains that we believe are temporary for our citizens and for the people of the Southwest.

“We believe that in no distant time, these pains will pave the way and will give way to prosperity and peace in our country.”

Meanwhile, Kekemeke dismissed concerns about emerging opposition coalitions, describing them as a normal feature of democracy, but queried the credibility of those behind their formation and also labelled the opposition figures as serial failures undeserving of another chance.

“My own view is that this is not a coalition of untested people; they are people that have been tested and have failed, failed and failed. If people have been tested and have failed over time, it will be terrible for Nigerians to abandon someone who is setting Nigeria on the path to greatness and go back to people who have failed.

“They are people who have been given a first chance, a second chance, and a third chance, and have failed. They are a committee of people who have failed in the past and recently.

“They are people who have not been able to accredit themselves credibly in the areas that they have been asked to work. They are not people who have something to show.

“I will give you an example of what I mean. When we were campaigning for President Tinubu, we had a Lagos record to show. We say that we want President Tinubu to do to Nigeria what he did to Lagos,” Kekemeke stated.