The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, on Saturday, left Nigeria for London, the United Kingdom, The PUNCH has learnt.
The PUNCH gathered that Tinubu and Shettima decided to take a break to prepare them for campaigns.
Tinubu and Shettima’s trip to London coincided with that of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who also travelled to London with his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom, on Friday.
According to the schedule released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, campaigns for the presidential election will begin on September 28.
When contacted on Sunday, the Director of Media and Publicity for Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed that his principal took a break.
“He only took a week break for vacation,” he said.
He added that Tinubu’s campaign might begin on October 8.
“Although the campaign will flag off on October 8, we will kick off the stipulated September 28 date with a prayer in all the APC branches nationwide.
“After committing the day to God, we will embark on road work in Abuja. However, I am sure the policy document will be ready before October 2,” he said.
One million-man march
Meanwhile, a Tinubu’s support group, the City Boy Movement, in collaboration with the National Coalition Group said they planned to embark on a one-million-man solidarity march to launch his campaign.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the group’s media sub-committee secretary, Shehu Yahaya.
Themed ‘One Million Man-March for Tinubu-Shettima Presidency: A walk for good governance,’ the march is slated for September 28.
The statement read in part, “The solidarity march will kick off at the Unity Fountain Maitama, Abuja, with many party leaders, young All Progressives Congress stakeholders and a host of celebrities gearing up to attend.
“The one million-man March is organised to bring all the APC and Tinubu/Shettima support groups across the country together for familiarisation and preparation for the forthcoming general elections. We believe that with the collective support of all the groups, we will sail our competent candidature of Tinubu-Shettima to the presidency come 2023.”
The Chairman of the APC National Coalition Group, Francis Shoga, also, in a statement, disclosed that the proposed one million-man march would harmonise all support groups for effective coordination ahead of the elections.