Date: 2018-11-19

The presidency says the electoral victories recorded by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on November 17 is a sign of things to come in the 2019 elections.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the APC swept the three federal constituencies in Katsina, Kwara, and Bauchi states in the bye-elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday, November 17.

Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said the APC victory in the three states had shattered any assumptions of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) return to power in 2019.

According to the presidential aide, the APC victory should be a blow for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaigners who have maintained that by merely claiming that they have rebranded, Nigerians will have forgotten all the mess they left behind in 2015.

He said: "By voting overwhelmingly for the ruling APC, Nigerians have shown their confidence in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, and their willingness for continuation of this government and its policies.

"This clear show of support can only be a synopsis of what Nigerians should expect in the forthcoming elections, at all levels.

"I would like to use this opportunity to remind Nigerians that there will always be a winner and a loser in every election, an individual and a party with the highest votes and another with the lowest.

"That is what democracy is about. Therefore, all aspirants should approach elections with the mindset that they could either win or lose.

"Accepting results only when one wins and challenging results each time one loses, is not the right attitude. It is certainly not what democracy is about."

The presidential aide thanked the people of Katsina, Kwara and Bauchi States for their show of support during and after the bye-elections.

"On behalf of President Buhari, I thank the people of Katsina, Kwara and Bauchi States for their show of support over the weekend.

"I thank Nigerians all over the country for believing in this government and in its determined effort to pull our nation out of the mess left behind by 16 years of PDP government, and into the greatness that is our destiny,'' he added.(NAN)