[font=oswald]
The presidential campaign council of the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday took a swipe at both the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, saying they were unfit for the country’s top job.

A spokesperson to the LP candidate’s campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, who made the comments on Arise News Channel, THISDAY’s broadcast arm, noted that both major opponents of the former Anambra governor in next month’s general election, lacked the character and competence to lift Nigeria from its current state.

In addition, he argued that both Tinubu and Atiku were physically unfit to shoulder the enormous responsibility that the office of the president demands.

“Have you not seen the difference between a man who is responsible and responsive as a leader who is going to bring transformative and purposeful leadership in Nigeria with a man who shifts all the responsibilities to others?

“Because of course, like I said, Tinubu is incapable of granting any interview. He’s incapable of national debate, he is incapable of being the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the LP spokesman said of the APC candidate.

Also taking on Atiku during the interview, Okonkwo pointed out that the former Nigerian vice president was too tainted to be saddled with the task of revamping Nigeria.

He recalled the comments made by Atiku’s ex-principal, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, pointing out that Obasanjo accurately captured the character of the PDP presidential candidate in his previous public statements.

“When he (Obi) climbs the staircase, he jumps it, telling you he is fit as fiddle, not just that he’s going to be a leader, he’s going to supervise the people that are working under him.

“That is why it is dangerous to elect a president who cannot even come for a national debate…It’s dangerous to bring such a person to the position of leadership and I am talking specifically about Bola Tinubu,” he stated.

On Atiku, he added: “I am talking about an octogenarian who cannot climb the staircase and you can see the mess they are already doing. And that is why we are saying that Peter Obi is the only option not just an alternative,” Okonkwo stated.

Speaking on concerns that if Obi is elected president in 2023, his administration will be chaotic because he doesn’t have the structure to sustain leadership since he has no national and state lawmakers, Okonkwo said the assertion was baseless.

According to the Obi’s spokesman, the structures being bragged about by both Tinubu and Atiku are those of bad leadership which have brought the nation to its knees.

He boasted that Obi would destroy such structures and take the country to a new height of productivity, national unity and security and unrivalled economic growth.

“The structures that the PDP and APC have are structures of criminality, structure of corruption, structure of fuel scarcity, structure of poverty, structure of insecurity and structure of bad leadership.

“So if Obi is part of that structure, you wouldn’t see me being a spokesman to him. And that is why he is coming in to destroy such structures. When he was a member of the House of Assembly, he had no members of the House of Assembly. None. But he was able to get everything he wanted approved by the House of Assembly.

“He did not have one member of the House of Assembly when he came in as governor and this is what Obasanjo would describe as a track record of ability and performance.

“What you need to be in control is not having members in the National Assembly as pleasant and as important as it may be. What you need is political will. What you need is strong institutions,” he contended.

Okonkwo further attacked the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, saying that although the president may not be directly pilfering the commonwealth, he has not been able to show competence and control over his lieutenants.

RealLordZeus:


Buying themes expensive So you want to write from scratch

Well its good to experience shege..

Abeg.. delete that flimsy WordPress forever, open notepad and start writing your clean code

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday said it would be too risky for Nigerians to hand over their future to the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, or that of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, in next month’s election.

This was just as former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said the 2023 general election would be a referendum on the performance of the APC-led government, adding that Nigerians would not reward failure.

But the Spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Festus Keyamo, countered Saraki, saying that the ruling party was in pole position to win the forthcoming elections

Speaking at the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) Presidential Dialogue on the Economy in Lagos yesterday, Atiku said he has a good understanding of the challenges bedeviling Nigeria.

Analysts have narrowed the race to Atiku, Tinubu and Obi.

The former vice president described Obi as a greenhorn and alleged that the APC-led government brought Nigerians to “this sorry situation.”

Atiku said: “Experience is important and we must avoid the mistakes of the recent past. It is too risky for Nigerians to hand over their future to a greenhorn or to the national leader of the very party that brought us to this sorry situation.

“This is election season. So, you will see and hear from snake-oil salespeople, false prophets and purveyors of false hope and misleading statistics. There is, therefore, the need for caution.

“We must also remember that we cannot trust the doctor that poisoned and continues to poison the patient to be the one who provides the curative treatment. The stakes are too high; so, we must get it right. This may well be our last chance to do so.

“The Nigerian economy is barely growing. Per capita income, a measure of citizens’ well-being, has progressively fallen since 2015 because of declining output and a fast-growing population. Our people are worse-off today than they were in 2015.

“The oil and gas sector, which is the country’s main foreign exchange earner, has declined for most of the period since 2014. For many economic sectors and for the ordinary citizens it still feels like we are in a recession.

“Under the current administration our people are not working. More than 23 million people are out of jobs. In just five years between 2015 and 2020, the number of fully employed people dropped by 54 per cent, from 68 million to 31 million people. This is frightening in a country of 200 million people.

“And the majority of the unemployed are young men and women, who lack not only the means to survive but any hope for the future. The number of unemployed youths increased by nine million from four million in 2015 to 13 million in 2020.

“High youth unemployment and limited employment opportunities pose serious economic and security challenges. It is, therefore, an urgent matter to ensure that there are enough jobs for Nigeria’s youth. More Nigerians are poorer and more miserable today than in 2015,” Atiku explained.

Voting APC is Rewarding Failure, Says Saraki

Meanwhile, Saraki has insisted that the ruling party has failed Nigerians in all ramifications, including security and economy, stressing that more Nigerians have been plunged into poverty since the APC came into power in 2015 while insecurity had been the order of the day.

Speaking on ARISE NEWS Channel, a sister broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers on the 2023 election, as well as the chances of Atiku, the former senate president argued that the ruling party had failed to deliver on virtually all the promises it made to Nigerians in 2015.

He said Nigerians now have a choice to choose a better party that would rescue the country from the precipice, adding that the PDP remained the better alternative.

Commenting on sundry national issues, Saraki insisted that most progressive Nigerians would not vote for the ruling party in the forthcoming elections because of its unimpressive performance over the past seven years.

He said the country is no longer united under the APC, while unemployment, insecurity, poverty and economic woes are the hallmark of the present administration.

Saraki expressed the confidence that the main opposition party would come back to reclaim the seat of power at the elections, stressing that the PDP remains the only hope to rescue the country.

He boasted that the party has the capacity to secure the 25 majority votes in over 24 states as required by the constitution.

He argued that the PDP would win four zones, including the South-south, South-east, North-central, and North-west.

He, however, admitted that the South-east remains a challenge for the party because of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

He, however, argued that the Labour Party lacks the structure and spread to win the presidential elections, pointing out that even if Obi wins, he would find it difficult to deliver on his mandate because his party would also lack majority seats in the parliament.

Saraki said: “First, I strongly believe that the 2023 election is a referendum on the performance of the APC government and party and I believe that a country like ours, a very progressive country with a lot of progressive individuals – would never reward failure.

“The question that Nigerians must ask is: Has this government and party failed or done well in the last seven years plus?

“And let’s take the indices one by one because I want to stay on issues and move away from sentiments. In 2015, their promise to Nigerians was that we would fight insecurity, we would improve the economy, we would create jobs for the youths – those were the major issues.”

Speaking further, he said, “In 2015 if you can remember very clearly, issues of insecurity were limited to the North-east. Since then, till today, we’ve seen insecurity in the North-west – farmers cannot go to their farms, people are being killed and kidnapped; we’ve seen herdsmen and farmers clash in the North-central and we’ve seen the highest level of oil theft in the South-south – and we’ve seen kidnapping. So, on the issue of security, they have not performed, they have failed.

“Let’s take the economy, and again, I will take them one by one and I will challenge you because you are know these issues; let’s take inflation – the inflation level today is about 16 per cent, which was never like this in the time of PDP in the single digit. You have the highest number of Nigerians below the poverty line at 133 million; it was not like that. Unemployment under PDP was about six per cent to seven per cent; today it is 33 per cent, and youth unemployment is about 40 per cent. Foreign Direct Investment if we are lucky may be just about $2 billion compared to $8 billion to $9 billion.

“These are facts we cannot run away from; on the economy as well, the exchange rate was N200, the official rate was probably N195 and the parallel market N230 – today official about N450 and the black market N735. It’s never been like this. And these are facts.”

According to him, “When you take all these issues, they have failed and as they’ve failed as a political party, we cannot reward failure. So, I don’t even think that the race should be about APC; they’ve had an opportunity to make Nigerians’ lives better but they have not.

“The question now goes as you’ve all asked – who next? Some would say oh, do we want to go back to PDP? Let’s talk about that back to PDP- the PDP days.

“The PDP days, as I said, we had insecurity limited to just one part of the country. In the PDP days we are talking about, we had GDP growth of about six per cent to 7 per cent. Now, we are seeing GDP growth of about 2 per cent, less than the population growth.”

He said: “In the PDP days we talked about, we had Foreign Direct Investment into this country – about $8 billion – and the largest economy in Africa. These were the PDP days, the exchange rate was not N700 inching to N1000 at a time, these were the PDP days.

“PDP days, the country was more united but now it is no more; now, it is normal in democratic settings that the populace has a choice especially when you get tired of a party and you say oh, I want to try another party. But when the party has failed, you come back to what they call the good days and that is what PDP offers under Atiku Abubakar.

“When you talk about other parties – with great respect to them – to the individuals, particularly, Peter. But don’t forget again that what we run in Nigeria, we run a presidential system. When you go to that ballot box on election day, you are voting for the party.

“Now, a party where from day one, you don’t have candidates in all the parliamentarian seats; so, already from day one, there’s a recipe for disaster because you know that the executives and legislature are not going to have a majority. And a lot of people when you ask them what is their concern, they tell you about restructuring. These are things that need constitutional review. These are things that you also need to have a majority in the National Assembly.”

Saraki, among other things, said, “Investors are no longer satisfied with Executive Orders. They want to see legislation to support investment. So, if as a small party, you don’t have a spread; we’ve seen our experience in 2015 – let’s move away from internship to reality and practicality.

He said: “Now, that takes me back to Atiku Abubakar. In Atiku Abubakar, you have a candidate that is ready from day one to run. The experience he has is even at the federal level.”

APC in Pole Position to Win the Forthcoming Elections, Says Keyamo

While also responding on ARISE NEWS Channel, Keyamo said the APC was in pole position to win the forthcoming elections.

Though Keyamo admitted that Obi had made a significant impact in the North-west, he argued that it would be an advantage to the APC, because the LP presidential candidate has been able to appeal to the Christians going by his campaign techniques so far and he would be taking a chunk of votes from the PDP.

In the North-west, Keyamo explained that the defection of the former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) would affect the electoral fortune of the PDP, while the ruling party would maintain its strong hold on the region.

In the North-east, Keyamo recalled that in 2019 elections, Atiku had no one to contend with – either presidential or vice presidential candidates, yet he lost four of the six states, adding with Kashim Shettima, the vice presidential candidates of the party from the region, that would pose another problem for the PDP.

He said while the APC might not win the South-east and South-South, the South-west was for the ruling party to lose.

He concluded that ruling party would win the presidential election.

jcflex:


It is a clear directive from FG (Ministry of Education) to all Federal institution.

YoungCabal:
Lmao ! I built Nairaboard entirely from scratch myself. If you had created an account and explored some of the additional features added, you will know that I am capable of building something else entirely, the choice to keep it similar to nairaland was intentional, I didn't set out to build something completely different from what people were used to.

Goldmynemaniac:

Considering advancements in web technology, gadget power gains and better internet speed, why Nairaland remains unchanging like a worn-out castle from the dark ages beats my imagination.

Felabrity:

.

The Dumbo's will never reply that statement made by kwankwaso


bunch of scallywag

Eniitankorede:

The man of devil will lose again, just like his Jonathan adoption failed. God does not fail His people. Therefore, Oyedepo is of the devil. He will fail again.

uuzba:

Una wan give freedom of speech, But you still want to collect my phone number first. .. come and catch me.

leXHansplaCE59:
So many norms are changing...OBidients are truly ready to salvage Nigeria

A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin and presided over by Justice Ibrahim Yusuf on Tuesday sentenced two students, Abdulazeez Ismail and Ajala Oluwatimileyin, to death for the murder of a 300-level undergraduate of the University of Ilorin, Blessing Olajide.

Olajide was raped and killed by the duo on June 2, 2021, at her sister’s house in the Tanke area of Ilorin, Kwara State.

Justice Yusuf also sentenced another student, Oyeyemi Omogbolahan, to life improvement, while two siblings: Abdulkarim Shuaib (aka Easy) and Kareem Rasheed (Rashworld), were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment each for withdrawing money from the Guarantee Trust Bank account of the deceased a few days after she was killed.

Three others: Abdullateef Abdulrahman, Daud Adebayo (Bashman) and Akande Oladoja, were discharged and acquitted by the court.

Delivering judgement on 11 counts of conspiracy, armed robbery, rape, culpable homicide and stealing of funds preferred against the eight accused persons, Justice Yusuf found the three students guilty of conspiracy, rape and murder of Olajide, while two other telephone repairers who helped to unlock her telephone and assisted in the withdrawal of money from her account were convicted for conspiracy and stealing.

The judge, who said 13 people testified for the prosecution, while 16 witnesses, including the accused persons, were called to testify for the defendants, said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Justice Yusuf said, “While the prosecution established the ingredients of conspiracy and armed robbery against the first three accused persons, it proved beyond reasonable doubt that injury was inflicted on the deceased and she was raped to death.

“I direct that Abdulazeez Ismail and Ajala Moses Oluwatimileyin be hanged by the neck until they are pronounced dead.”

The prosecution counsel and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Salman Jawondo, who spoke to journalists after the court session, said, “The irony of it all is that all those involved are young men of 19, 23, etc. It’s quite unfortunate. And that shows that we have to work on our future in this country.”

Pauldollars:


10X better than preparing to snatch ballot boxes and buying people's PVC

Which one is Grab Power By Force And Run Away With It?

Did Bola really said that?

[font=oswald]
The National Working Committee of the Labour Party says it has investigated the alleged N40 million fraud levelled against its National Chairman, Julius Abure, and found him not guilty.

While disclosing that its decision to sack the Ogun State chapter of the party and its excos was made with diligence, the NWC said it had given Abure a clean bill of health to continue in office.

The embattled LP chairman has been accused of diverting the proceeds of party nomination forms into his private transport company account.

The corruption allegation was raised in a petition addressed to the LP National Executive Committee and presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi, by the axed National Publicity Secretary of LP, Abayomi Arabambi.

The petition, which was made available to The PUNCH, was written by his lawyers Kaiser Oghenetejire & Co.

Arabambi, who claimed that he was illegally removed through a coup orchestrated by Abure and the National Secretary, Umar Farouk, stated that the chairman grossly violated the provisions of the party Constitution by enriching himself fraudulently and denying candidates their tickets.

His petition partly read, “Julius Abure, the National Chairman of Labour Party diverted over N40,000,000 from sales of party nomination forms into his private transport company account with Access Bank Plc as payments thereby grossly violating the provisions of the Labour Party constitution 2019 as amended by enriching himself fraudulently and thereafter denied the candidates tickets after collecting their monies.”

Arabambi alleged that Abure had on different occasions’s’s defrauded aspirants and candidates on the platform of the party and called on the party to investigate the allegations.

He cited the case of a candidate for Lagos West Senatorial seat, George Gabriel Chiadikaobi, who paid N2.5m into the party’s account in Lagos and another N2.5m into Abure’s business account in August and another Lagos-based House of Representatives candidate, Umeadi Emmanuel Azubike, who paid N3m and N1m respectively on July 6.

According to him, Abure brought in four thugs with improvised arms or pistols who he initially thought were members of the Department of State Services to harass him when he came to present the evidence of the chairman’s fraudulent activities during Thursday’s NWC meeting at Barcelona Hotel Wuse 2 Abuja.

“Julius Abure’s actions constituted a coup d’etat that amounted to suspending the Labour Party’s constitution for the implementation of draconian decrees rather than the party’s constitutional provisions as regards his illegal suspension and removal as the National Publicity Secretary and also the Ogun State Executive Council.

“Abure pleaded with me to conceal the details of how he embezzled N40 million which belongs to the Labour Party but I refused to do so. That was why I was illegally removed.

“I called for a financial Audit investigation of all the labour party’s accounts to be conducted immediately to ascertain the extent of financial malfeasance and impropriety perpetrated through illegal transactions from sales of party nomination forms and expression of interest,” he told our correspondent.

A livid Arabambi also vowed to contest his illegal removal as LP image maker in a competent court to test the Labour Constitution.

Efforts to reach the embattled national chairman proved abortive as of the time of filing this report.

But LP National Secretary, Umar Farouk, told our correspondent to ignore the ranting of the suspended publicity secretary and other allegations raised by enemies of the party.

Defending the party chairman, Farouk stated that there was nowhere in the petition that Abure was indicted of collecting the alleged fraudulent proceeds directly.

While describing it as a watery report, the secretary disclosed that it was an attempt to distract the Labour Party from winning the 2023 elections.

He said, “In politics, one cannot run away from various allegations from people who are not really in tune with the progress of the party. But I can tell you categorically that the NWC has passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the national chairman.

“Every part of that allegation has been reviewed and we have seen nothing financially wrong in what the allegation claims. It is just watery. I can assure you that the party will also challenge the action from the appropriate court of jurisdiction.

“In the said allegation, nowhere was the name of our chairman mentioned except in the heading. All the subsequent narration in the report was just watery and mere allegation.

“We are not going to be distracted. People are feeling that we are not strong but this action we are taking is making us stronger. We are not afraid to take decisions as long as it is in line with the Constitution of the party and the candidate.

“We are also not unaware of people coming into the party to cause chaos. Some miscreants will go and say things that are not really happening at the party. Things like money being shared or stolen by certain people. If you have proof of such a report, come out and tell us you are a member, this is your membership card and what actually transpired.

“So many people are being sponsored in the party to cause issues that are not there. We are moving forward as our slogan says. Forward ever, backward never.

“For now, the national chairman, Barrister Julius Abure, has the backing of the entire NWC and NEC members.”

[font=oswald]The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday in Lafia, Nasarawa state, pledged to ensure that the state is linked to road networks in the North central zone of the country.

He also pledged to ensure that there is a gainful employment for the huge unemployed youths and women in the state.

Speaking at the rally that took place in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa state, Atiku said: “I want to use this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to making sure that our young men and women have jobs to do and have work to do when we come into office.

“That is why we set aside $10 billion so that we can pump this money in the small medium enterprises for our young men and woman. Let me also announced that we will link up Nasarawa with all other neighboring states as far as our road infrastructure is concerned. Having said that, I want you people to make sure that we win this state this time around.”

In his speech, the National Chairman of PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, urged Nasarawa state to join other North central states in voting for the PDP and reconcile ensure that Atiku Abubakar is going to get his highest vote in the north central zone.

Ayu said:”Luckily for us, Lafia is the political capital of North central. Therefore, I expect Nasarawa state to take number one. Nasarawa state that will give Atiku Abubakar 95 per cent of their votes especially now that ever body that was in the other party is coming back to the PDP.

“Nasarawa state, when we started their journey in 1998 was a PDP state. The current chairman of APC, Abdullahi Adamu, PDP made him. Without PDP, there would have been no Abdullahi Adamu. So Nasarawa state is not a state for any other party. Everybody that was in another party has come back to PDP,” he said.

The Chairman of PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state, said from what he saw at the rally Nasarawa state will give PDP over 95 per cent.

He said: “I am convinced that when it is time to announce the results, the result of Nasarawa will be announced first as PDP has win Nasarawa before any other state. You should vote for Atiku Abubakar, you should vote for PDP. You should make PDP five over five.

“Let me tell you that there is the belief now because PDP is the reigning party, that has something as a social contract with the youths. So, we are advising you it is no longer give over five but six over six . You vote for the president, Senator, House of Representatives members, House of Assembly members, vote for the governorship and then vote for yourself, that makes it six over six.

“It is enough that Nasarawa State would be producing raw materials and other states will establish factories elsewhere, to process your raw materials. I want to assure you that under the leadership of Atiku Abubakar as president what you produced in Nasarawa , people will build factory here and process it. Nobody will come and take your Agric produce away and build factory elsewhere. You are deserving of working in a factory here. Atiku and the PDP will do that for you.”

The PDP vice presidential candidate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, urged the state to make history and join the band wagon of states voting PDP in the next elections.

According to Okowa, “ We already have a date because Nassarawa State is set to win election. The PDP has gone out well by giving us a good product, and when you have a good product it is not hard to sell that product.

“That product the PDP has given us today is Atiku Abubakar. One man who is prepared, has the experience and ready to work with all Nigerians to turn things around for the good of our youths, for the good of our women and for the entire country.

“ We cannot miss this opportunity again, that is the best product that Nigeria has. We know we have 18 political parties there is only one man that stands out with the necessary experience to turn all Nigeria around for the good of all Nigerians.

“We want a Nigeria that works for these and every one of us, a Nigeria that will work for our youths, a Nigeria that will provide jobs for our youths, a Nigeria that will encourage industries, a Nigeria that will encourage our women, a Nigeria that will support our men and we are able to say yes, this is our Nigeria of our dream.

“Atiku is a man that can turn things around and you must trust him but you have to go out there to work and deliver the votes on February, 2023. Then it will be good for us, it will be good for our youths to be sure you are able to go to school, to be able to graduate, and when you graduate be able to start a business, or get an employment with a company, and that is what we stand for. You can never go hungry again and our mothers can never go hungry again,” he declared.

National director, Artisans and Technicians of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, Mr Adeshina Akinyemi has assured that they will deliver 5.3 million votes to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

He gave the assurance in Abuja at the inauguration of national and zonal directorates of artisans and technicians and the launching of operation 30:30 for Tinubu-Shettima 2023 campaign organisations.

Akinyemi said the event was to make a statement and showcase the strength of the APC Tinubu-Shettima Grassroots Independent Campaign Council (ICC).

He said it was also to showcase the council’s quality and quantity as a deep-rooted organization that had structures across the country with capacity to deliver at any time in the political process and the country generally.

Adeshina said the event was to enlighten and create awareness in the minds of artisans in the country that Tinubu, the APC 2023 presidential candidate is the best of all the presidential candidates.

“We are here to enlighten them that the next president of Nigeria to be voted for in February 2023 is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

“And that is the message they should take back to their communities, local government areas and zones,” Akinyemi said, adding that there were currently 7.5 million registered artisans across the country.


“We know we can’t have 100 per cent of the number, but as artisans,we are going to deliver about 5.3 million votes for Tinubu in the coming 2023 presidential election,” he added.



Also, the co-director and North West zonal director of artisans and technicians, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji said the event was the first in the country’s democratic history.



He said this was so because for the first time artisans were noticed and a whole directorate created to bring them together from across the country by the APC.



He added that this meant that Tinubu in his zeal to develop the country’s economy, realised that the starting point of developing the economy, increasing productivity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was with technicians and artisans.



The director-general of the Tinubu Campaign Council, Simon Lalong, who inaugurated the directorates said improving the skills of registered artisans across the country will be one of Tinubu’s priorities if he is elected as Nigeria’s next president.



Lalong was represented at the event by Mr Silas Agara, a former deputy governor of Nasarawa State and the national coordinator, APC Tinubu-Shettima Grassroots Independent Campaign Council (ICC).



He said “Operation 30:30” for Tinubu-Shettima 2023 which was also inaugurated, was a strategic voting pattern adopted by Nigerian artisans and technicians for the 2023 presidential election.