Why we didn’t postpone Katsina rally despite killing of vigilante members by terrorists – Tinubu

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has said the Presidential Campaign Council of the party decided to go ahead with a planned rally in Katsina State despite the killing of vigilante members by terrorists to avoid giving the killers a sense of victory.

More than 100 vigilante group members were killed in a clash with terrorists last Thursday in the Yargoje forest of Kankara area.

Mr Tinubu said he discussed with the state governor, Aminu Masari, Sunday night whether the rally should be called off due to the killing but the governor advised otherwise.

“Only yesterday, the governor and all of us discussed whether we should continue with the rally today or cancel. He (Me Masari) said if we cancel they (terrorists) they would appear to have achieved their objectives. There is nothing, nothing happened without the wills of Allah. We should take it (killing) as a crime without passion….. We’ll continue to welcome our president home… continue with our rally and ignore the killers because they will pay the price because they have committed heinous crime that’s not prescribed by any faith or believer. Therefore, we continue today by summoning our courage and I salute all of you….,” he said.

Mr Tinubu said he shared the pains of the people of the state.

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He said the terrorists would not win against the state because the government would deal with them (terrorists).

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“They (terrorists) will not win. The wicked shall perish; we will deal with them. No way that they will go scot-free. No way. Whether they derive some moment of joy or satisfaction, we’re saying we’re bold, we’re courageous. We believe in Allah and we’re better than them.. they’re evil.. we’ll defeat them,” he said.

Earlier at the Katsina Government House, Mr Tínubu pledged a N100 million Naira contribution to the state for onward distribution to victims of terrorist activities in the state.

In his remarks at the rally, President Muhammadu Buhari said they would continue to support the former Lagos governor since the party trusted Mr Tinubu to carry its mandate.

“I’ve come here to show you our candidate. The party we belong to..the party we accept as our own, the party that produced us, is the party that produced him (Mr Tinubu) therefore we would continue to show our support and campaign for our candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said those at the rally should tell their neigbours to vote for APC for stability in the country.

Mr Buhari said the price of petrol per barrel has significantly dropped compared to 1999 to 2015 when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power.

“Please, this election tell your neighbours, family and friends to come out en masse and vote for our candidates at federal and State levels. Please and please, by God you people should continue to be patient, we need to continue to stabilise this country because you know how we met it. You know the situation. From 1999 to 2015 when I came to power, every day, this country was getting crude oil to the tune of 2,100,000 at 100 US dollar. When we came the price unfortunately dropped among other things. They also released terrorists in the place where there is fuel but even at that, look at what we’ve achieved, ” he said.