APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Sunday commended the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for extending the deadline for swapping the new naira notes for old ones, saying appeals for the extension caused his late arrival in Benin.
At the palace of the Oba of Benin where Oba Ewuare II, in the company of traditional rulers from Edo Central and Edo North Senatorial districts, received him, Tinubu said the extension would give Nigerians ample time to change their naira notes, especially those in the rural areas.
He said, “I must commend President Muhammadu Buhari for agreeing to the extension of the deadline for the changing into the redesigned naira notes. My appeal for the extension contributed to my coming late for the meeting.
“My coming late is not intentional. It is because of national politics. Some of our cousins, our wives selling garden eggs, carrots, and roasted corn need money. If we fail to intervene in the situation, we have failed in our duties. We have been on the quest for an extension for three to four days and when the President gave his approval today (Sunday), we were happy. Though we didn’t get all that we wanted, we got an extension by some days.”
The APC presidential candidate stated that education reform, tackling unemployment, total deregulation of the oil sector and removal of subsidy are top on his agenda, while calling on the monarchs and other stakeholders to support his ambition.
On his part, Oba Ewuare II appreciated Tinubu’s planned support for the museum which he said would help tourism and research and said the Federal Government has taken over the building of the museum through the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
He also commended the state government for its support of the museum project.
At the town hall meeting, Tinubu said he would ensure total deregulation of the oil sector so market forces would determine the price of oil products depending on the location.
