Thousands of members and supporters of the All Progressives Congress, on Saturday, organized a ‘one-million-man march’ in Lagos for the March 28 and April 11 elections.
The march, which kicked off at Maryland in Ikeja, at 8.20am, moved from there through Ikorodu Road to Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere.
The march was led by chieftains of the party including former Governor of Lagos State and national leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu; Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji; APC governorship candidate in Lagos, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; and APC candidate for Lagos-Central Senatorial District, Oluremi Tinubu.
Others present included APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, Senator Gbenga Ashafa and Mr. Dele Adeleke, among others.
Governor Aregbesola, in his speech at the rally, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of bringing misery and bad luck to Nigeria.
Dressed in white jumpsuit and a pair of trainers to match, Aregbesola sang that President Jonathan would be sent packing come March 28 at the presidential poll.
Addressing the gathering at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos State, after the march, the Osun governor, who addressed the gathering in Yoruba language, compared President Jonathan to the Biblical Jonah, who brought misery to the mariners in the ship he boarded before he was thrown overboard and swallowed by a big fish.
“That is the Biblical Jonah. The Nigerian Jonah is President Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan was named Goodluck because his father thought he would bring blessing and prosperity to the land. God gave him the privilege but he has failed to do the work God asked him to do. What did the mariners do to Jonah?
“They threw him into the sea. We’re not going to throw Jonathan into the sea. We are going to use our votes to carry him back to his village, Otuoke. We have to vote right; we have to vote for change. We must vote for the APC. Jonathan cannot continue to rule Nigeria. He has brought bad luck to the country. His name has changed from Goodluck to bad luck”, Aregbesola said.
Speaking earlier, APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, stated that the march was for change in the country’s leadership.
Tinubu said, “We are marching for common sense revolution. I thank you all for marching for change. By now we would have had change in government but the Federal Government changed the elections date. This is March, we’ll march for Buhari and Osinbajo. We started this walk together”.
In his address, the APC vice presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, called on Nigerians to vote out Jonathan.
According to him, instead of prosperity, Jonathan and the PDP have brought poverty on Nigerians.
“May we not have PDP in Nigerian government again. May we not have PDP again in Aso Villa. May PDP not take away our fortune and our future. Vote for change come March 28 and April 11,” Osinbajo said.
In his own remarks, APC governorship candidate in Lagos State, Ambode, expressed appreciation for the party’s supporters for taking part in the walk and faulted the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government for the six-week postponement of elections.