The Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, have been named as the director-general and interim spokesperson for the Tinubu/Shettima All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign, respectively.
Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s National Chairman, revealed this to State House Correspondents on Thursday, after accompanying APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu and vice presidential candidate Senator Kashim Shettima to see President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The person who is going to be the director-general (DG) of the APC presidential campaign organisation is His Excellency, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State,” the party chairman said. “We have an interim spokesperson of the campaign organisation in the person of Festus Keyamo, who is the Minister of State for Labour and Employment,” Adamu further said.
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In response to a question about how the party chose Lalong as campaign director general, Adamu said that it was simply based on Lalong’s ability to deliver, adding that “the party leadership sees that he is capable of providing leadership for the administration of the day-to-day affairs of the party as far as the campaign is concerned.”
Lalong, who is also the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, said: “Making me a leader because of ability is not a new thing. I am capable of serving as a leader in any capacity, and I am confident that we will not disappoint you.”
Lalong, for his part, claimed that the party chose him for his abilities rather than as a “Christian candidate.”
Bola Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos State and APC presidential candidate, said, “You’ve heard from my national chairman, you’ve heard from the spokesperson, and you’ve heard from the announcement. We are pleased with it, and we can tell you that we have the buy-in of Mr. President, the party’s leader.”
The campaign for presidential and National Assembly elections will begin on September 28, 2022, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while that for governorship and state Houses of Assembly will begin on October 12, 2022.
