Buhari campaigns in Gombe despite suicide bomb blast near Jonathan’s rally

Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday held his presidential campaign rally at Pantami Stadium in Gombe, capital of Gombe state, just one day after a female suicide bomb struck outside the same stadium where President Goodluck Jonathan held his own campaign rally.

Monday’s suicide bomb attack, which occurred 20 minutes after the president ended his rally, killed five people and injured seven at first count.

The APC campaign organisation had been worried about the security situation in the northeast, and it emerged on Monday that the team was stalling on the dates of its campaign rally in Yobe and Borno, two of the three states most ravaged by insurgency.

Nevertheless, Buhari took his campaign to Gombe as previously scheduled.

At his interaction with Abubakar Shehu-Abubakar, the emir of Gombe, during a visit to his palace, Buhari lamented that insurgency had destroyed the northeast to the extent that lot of Nigerians had become refugees in their homelands.

He vowed to eliminate Boko Haram if voted to power.

Speaking, Shehu-Abubakar urged politicians to go about their campaigns in peace and unity, and prioritise human development, peace, education, agriculture, and job creation in their programmes.

Speaking at the rally, Buhari repeated his message of running an incorruptible government if voted into power.

“Whoever has misappropriated public resources knows. He should also how to cough it up because a line will be drawn from May 30,” he said.

“From thence, whoever is trusted with public office and betrays the trust would be dealt with.”

He also promised to empower youths, focus on developing the agricultural and power sectors and raise the standard of education so that the younger generation can have a better future.