Mr Yekini Nabena, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has cautioned against campaign of calumny ahead of 2023 general election.
Nabena in a statement in Abuja on Monday said such campaigns were capable of demarcating whoever emerged as the party’s candidate at the end of the day.
He urged APC members in particular to avoid hate speeches while pleading that they should embrace issue-based campaigns instead of attack on one another.
“It is too early to be unnecessarily emotive,’’ he said.
Nabena said that two of the APC presidential aspirants had made their 2023 presidential aspirations known to the public while others were yet to do so.
He cautioned that negative comment against presidential aspirants might be used as a demonisation weapon by opposition parties.
He said since those aspiring to fly the party’s ticket were from the same political party, party supporters should see themselves as one and play up their advantages.
“Whoever emerges as the party’s candidate for the 2023 presidential election during its primary will need to extend the olive branch to other aspirants,” he said.
This, he said, was especially so, because the party does not need a divided house if it must win the 2023 general election.
He expressed optimism that the APC would give a level playground to all aspirants during the primaries and support whoever emerged as its candidate.
“My appeal is for all our members to embrace issues-based campaigns strategies in selling whoever they feel should succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
“There is no need to be unnecessarily emotive about it. I believe that all our presidential aspirants are well qualified to pick the ticket.
“It is a fact that participatory democracy gives room for choices, even within the same political party as it is a practice in the APC.
“We should therefore engage constructively without demonising ourselves, bearing in mind that whatever we say against each other now, will later be capitalised on by other political parties during the general elections,” he said.
Nabena tasked APC members who were already attacking aspirants against their principals to cool their tempers and embrace civility.
“We should not deny Nigerians the dividends of democracy we promised by unnecessarily heating up the polity,” Nabena said.(NAN)
