Atiku in Yobe, promises to return peace, open borders

* BVAS will make votes stealing impossible, says Okowa

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has assured residents of Yobe State that the insecurity currently ravaging the State and others in the country will become a thing of the past if elected as the next President of the country.

This is as the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP and Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa assured Yobe voters that the introduction of BVAS will make it impossible for their votes to be stolen, with a call on them to defend their votes up to the collation centre.

Atiku, Okowa and others spoke on Wednesday at the PDP presidential campaign rally in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.

The former Vice President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007 equally pledged to reopen the boarder between Niger and Yobe to facilitate free flow of human and agricultural resources.

The PDP presidential flag bearer pledged that if elected to succeed incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, his administration will make funds available for women and youths to go into entrepreneurship.

Atiku, who spoke both in Hausa and English languages, said, “If you vote for PDP, peace will return to Yobe. We will make sure that our schools are re-opened so that our children will continue to go to school.

“We also promised to empower our young men and women, by giving them capital, so that they can set up their own businesses. so that they can also live a successful life.

“We promised to reopen the borders so that businesses between us and our neigbours can flourish very well”, he said.

Also addressing the crowd, National Chairman of the party, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu said that the forthcoming election presents an opportunity for Nigeria to be recovered from the ruling party.

Recounting some of the hardship experienced by Nigerians under the ruling All-Progressives Congress, APC, Ayu said, “They made you go hungry; they gave you insecurity, and other things that you don’t like. Vote for Atiku Abubakar, he will recover Nigeria.

“On the naira swap, it is not all of them that agree to that. Even those that agree, hoarded the naira for vote-buying, that is why you are suffering, don’t agree.

“Let Buhari direct the security to retrieve the money they have” Ayu said.

Also speaking at the rally, the Vice Presidential candidate of PDP Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa declared that Atiku is the most qualified among all the other candidates to take the country out of the woods.

Okowa said,, “You have made a statement today (Wednesday), that you are ready to reclaim the future of Nigeria, the Nigeria that we dream about, not the Nigeria that we go to bed hungry, not the Nigeria where everyone is suffering and there is no employment for our youths, that is not the Nigeria of our dream.

“Of all those who are contesting today, there is only one man who understands Nigeria and that is Atiku Abubakar. He has the right experience and he is well educated and above all, he is a father who cares for you and I. He cares for the youth. He cares about the women. He cares about the man; he cares about the future of Nigeria. He is the only man that you can trust, please cast your votes for him”.

Okowa assured Yobe voters that the introduction of BVAS will make it impossible for their votes to be stolen and called on them to defend their votes up to the collation centre.

His words, “They are going to use the BVAS, so they cannot write results anymore, so you must be there and ensure that you escort the result to the ward Collation Center.

“Your vote will determine your future, your vote will determine the future of Nigeria, so you cannot play with it.

“Make sure that you come out to vote and we can together, secure a new future for our children, where our children will have gainful employment, and our children can be sure that that there is a future for them. I know that our parents will be happy when Atiku becomes the president of this country because he knows what to do.

“With Atiku, the insecurity that we have today will be no more and I pray you, please go out there to canvass for votes.

“PDP will bring back the glory days of this country. We cannot afford to cast our vote for APC because they are taking us down. It is time for us to rise up as a country”, Okowa pleaded.