•Okowa calls Atiku political general, who will rescue nation •Our party recognizes country’s plurality, Tambuwal
•Our candidates have capacity to deliver, Gov Emmanuel •PDP’s train has moved, Ayu
•Wike, Ortom, Makinde, others absent
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday flagged off its campaign in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, with it’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar assuring that a votes for the party in the 2023 general election will
be for prosperity, unity, safety and security for the people among others.
This is even as the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP and Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has likened Atiku to a Political General in term of needed experience to lead the country out of doom.
Okowa pointedly declared that PDP is the only party that is prepared to rescue this nation,adding, “after you have rescued the nation, you will also need experience to be able to restore and rebuild”.
The PDP Vice Presidential candidate said further that the leading opposition party cannot allow lieutenants to lead because “they will lead us to doom”.
Alhaji Atiku explained that the flag-off of the PDP campaign yesterday was aimed at rescuing Nigeria from hunger, from poverty and bringing back the unity that is badly lacking in the country.
The PDP presidential candidate, while addressing the gathering, said, “When PDP came to power in 1999, we met Nigeria in a state of poverty, insecurity and lack of education.
“We lifted Nigeria from the bottom to the top. We became the biggest economy in Africa, we had peace, we had progress. “Then Nigerians said they wanted a change and they voted for change in 2015.
“What we have seen is poverty, insecurity, lack of jobs and disunity.
Our children are no longer going to school.
“Today as we inaugurated the flag-off of the campaign to rescue Nigeria from hunger, to rescue Nigeria from poverty and bring back the unity we are lacking in this country, I want to appeal to all Nigerians to vote for PDP.
“If you vote for PDP, it will be a vote for prosperity, it will be a vote for unity, it will be a vote for your safety.
So there will be no more hunger and there will be security”, he declared .
Speaking at the flag off ceremony, the PDP Vice Presidential, Dr Okowa said, “I am aware and all of us know that there is a challenge in Nigeria, there is a great problem in the land and we are looking for a rescuer and PDP is coming back to rescue.
“When you want to rescue a people, particularly in the military, because we are in a war, everything has gotten so bad, you do not go to war with a lieutenant leading.
“Some other parties are presenting lieutenants but PDP is presenting a general.
“In the political field and governance of Nigeria, when you are talking about experience, then Atiku Abubakar is a general.
“We cannot allow lieutenants to lead because they will lead us to doom.
“We believe that PDP is the only party that is prepared to rescue this nation. “After you have rescued the nation, you will also need experience to be able to restore and rebuild.
“We want a nation that is in unity, we want a nation where people can trust each other, this is what Atiku Abubakar offers to us as a people and as Nigerians.
“He is one man that is connected across this nation. One man that people are comfortable with in the six geopolitical zones of this nation.
“He understands Nigeria and we know that he has the capacity and experience to unify us as a people”, he said.
Also speaking, the Director -General of Presidential Campaign Management Committee and Sokoto State Governor, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said that the party has presented the most competent candidates as it’s presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate among all the eighteen political parties contesting the next year’s general election.
According to Tambuwal, “The ticket of Atiku/Okowa has recognized the plurality and capacity of Nigeria and have respected our character as a nation and our party is presenting forth this two great Nigerians that have the capacity, the character and the competence to move the country forward.
“Our party is on a mission to rescue Nigeria and to restore its value and I believe the other party, their candidature is not only against the federal character but against the constitution of Nigeria because it doesn’t reflect the federal character of Nigeria.
“From day one they are planning to plant a seed of discord in this country and we must not allow that to happen.
“We have a balance ticket, we have a ticket that can rescue Nigeria through its current situation and I appeal to all of you men and women of goodwill to join on this train of Atiku Okowa to rescue, reset and restore Nigeria”, he stated.
On his part, the Chairman, PDP Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Gabriel Emmanuel appealed to Nigerians to elect people who have the capacity for deliver.
if you cannot manage a kiosk, you will not be able to
According to Governor Emmanuel, “We must elect people that have the capacity for delivery. If you cannot manage a kiosk, you will not be able to manage a multinational company.
“If PDP has not given the other party opportunity, Nigerians would not have known that any other party outside PDP will sink the ship of our economy, will rubbish our currency, will destroy our educational system and wil not have anything to offer in our social contract.
“Today I am happy Nigerians have seen the difference. We use to have a company which use to say the difference is clear. The PDP will bring Nigeria back to its lost glory.
“This is the time, let us join hands to rescue Nigeria, join hands to move Nigeria to the right direction and that direction can come if Nigerians vote for the PDP in 2023.
“You can compare and contrast the economy under the PDP and the economy under the other party, you need the party that will show us the way and that party is the PDP”, he said.
The acting Chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of PDP and former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara said that the main opposition party is the party to beat in the next year’s general election.
According to Wabara, “Our Presidential candidate and the vice are the candidates to beat. We have a unifier here. For the man to have put pen to paper and say this is my covenant with Nigeria is something that is worth emulating.
“No wonder PDP is the only party in today Nigeria that is ready to take over power”, he said.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu stressed the pertinent need for all Nigerians to join hands together with PDP to find solution to the nation’s problems.
His words, “The PDP train has started moving and we have left the station, but we are moving slowly so that those who are yet on board will join us on the train. It is important for us as leaders.
“Nigeria is not interested in our personal quarrels, Nigeria is waiting for us to come and rescue them from what is worrying them.
“The PDP knows what is worrying Nigerians. Nigerians are hungry, Nigerians are suffering from all sorts of sickness, Nigerians can not move from one point to another without worries, Nigerians cannot sleep because of insecurity.
“Nigerians are getting more and more divided, Nigerians are complaining and are hoping that what we did for them in the last 16 years, we will come back and do it for them again.
“Let us all join hands together because we have the solution. Already we have pen down the Covenant with Nigerians, we will restore the economy to its glory”, Ayu said.
However, the Governor of Rivers, Mr Nyeson Wike and and other members of his group were conspicuously absent.
Other Governors in Wike’s camp are; Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.
Also, the national vice-chairman of the party in the South-South, Dan Orbih was conspicuously absent during the event that attracted all stakeholders of the party.
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