With less that two months to the general election, the ongoing electioneering process has reached its peak as political parties and their candidates have intensified their bid to sell their manifestos to the electorates.
The top presidential candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peter Obi of Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP), yesterday continued the campaigns, just as they rigorously expounding on their plans and programmes.
Leader of the governing party, President Muhammadu Buhari, joined the APC presidential campaign rally in Yola where he asked people of Adamawa State to go to their constituencies and vote Tinubu and any other APC candidates within their locality.
The president’s presence at the Yola rally has put to rest speculations that he may have abandoned Tinubu, his party’s presidential candidate, to his fate.
Campaigning for Tinubu in Adamawa, Buhari asked the electorate to make history by voting Senator Aishatu Dahiru Binani, governorship candidate of the APC, as first female governor in Nigeria.
He thanked the people of the state for their support to the party and APC candidates, assuring that the party is going to take the lead in Nigeria in 2023 general elections.
He urged them to remain focused on APC, while assuring of his support to the party’s candidates.
“We would support Tinubu and Binani and by God’s grace, she (Binani) is going to emerge victorious in the 2023 polls.nI urge you people to be focused as APC came to the political scene to make sure Nigerians are recognized. Please go to your constituencies and vote for responsible people,” the president added.
The APC presidential candidate, Tinubu, told people of the state to vote out the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the state.
Tinubu who described the PDP as a poverty development party, promised to replace poverty with happiness joy and employment when elected as president.
At the Yola campaign rally were governors and notable APC chieftains, including the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu; Jigawa State governor, Atiku Bagudu; his Kaduna State counterpart, Nasir El-Rufai; Women Affairs minister, Pauline Tallen; minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Faruk; former governors, including Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa State; Ahmed Sani Bakura of Zamfara State and Muritala Nyako of Adamawa State, among others.
Also, the presidential candidate of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was in Abuja, the nation’s capital, for the official inauguration of the party’s presidential campaign council (PCC).
The former governor of Kano said that his party has embarked on a presidential road campaign with visits to 33 states of the federation and 300 local government areas, while there are plans to go to the remaining ones.
Kwankwaso said they deliberately chose to do the road campaign to avail themselves with the difficulties that Nigerian road users are living with across the country and to see the day-to-day challenges confronting Nigerian masses in their communities.
He said, “We deliberately chose to do the road campaign to avail ourselves with the difficulties that Nigerian road users are living with across the country and to see for ourselves the day-to-day challenges confronting Nigerian masses in their communities.
“We have covered tens of thousands of kilometres and visited over 300 local government areas so far. We have gone through difficult terrains, visited hard-to-reach communities like Illela in Sokoto State, Kauran Namoda in Zamfara State, Kamba in Kebbi State, Mubi in Adamawa State, Ikom and Ugep in Cross River State, Geidam in Yobe State, Ikare in Ondo State, Kwoi in Kaduna State and numerous such other places.
“In all the places we visited throughout our road campaign, we took time to visit the traditional and religious leaders in the areas because of our determination to carry them along when we eventually take over the mantle of leadership of the country.
“In particular, these leaders will be the drivers of our flagship initiative of Community Participation and Reorientation Committees (CPRC), which we intend to create at all the 8,809 wards. These committees will be funded directly by the federal government through appropriate legislation.
“Our experiences on the Road Campaign has further strengthened our commitment to the pledges that we have made to Nigerians. While working to complete the remaining three states and commence the second round of states’ road campaigns. I am happy to announce that beginning from the 12th of this month, we will start our zonal rallies in Bauchi for the North East, Kaduna on the 14th for the North West, and Lafia on the 16th for the North Central”.
Kwankwaso also promised to mop up the over 20 million out-of-school children from the streets of Nigeria by providing 500,000 classrooms across the states of the federation to accommodate those children.
The former Nigerian Senator assured that he and his party were determined to reform the education sector to improve quality and access at all levels.
“We will make all application forms for admission and employment free; we will make all examinations such us WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, NBIAS, JAMB etc. free; we will introduce a four-year moratorium for JAMB so that our children can use the same JAMB results to gain admission into our tertiary education institutions.
“We will upgrade and expand all our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education and raise their standard to global competitiveness,” Kwankwaso said.
While calling on Nigerians to vote for his party at the forthcoming general election, he said there is no political party in Nigeria that has fielded more candidates in terms of quality and quantity than the NNPP.
“All our candidates have been working very hard in mobilizing support for the party and campaigning systematically in all their constituencies. No wonder, our party is the fastest growing party and the most popular political party in our country,” he added.
The former Kano State governor thanked his friends who he said are working quietly, and organising a fund-raising campaign to support the New Nigeria Project he is championing despite the harsh economic realities.
On their part, te Labour Party (LP) and its presidential vandidate, Peter Obi, were in Asaba, Oshimili South local government area of Delta State, in continuation of their town hall meetings across the country.
Obi, who was accompanied by political economist, Prof Pat Utomi, told his supporters to vote for honesty, commitment, competence and capacity, which he said he possesses in abundance.
Obi urged Nigerians to shun voting candidates based on ethnicity and religion.
He assured the people that if voted as president, he will not give excuses for failure, adding that the people’s interest would be his driving force as a new Nigeria was possible.
“No tribe buys bread cheaper. No religion buys bread cheaper. We are not going to give excuses. I am not going to remind you of where you’re coming from or to blame people where they failed,” he pledged.
A member of the Obi-Datti presidential campaign committee, Aisha Yesufu, urged the people to obtain their permanent voter cards (PVCs) to enable them vote for the Labour Party and its presidential candidate.
The human rights activist, however, warned that the people will hold Obi accountable if he messes up after being elected into office as president.
The national chairman of the LP, Dr Julius Abure, said the Nigerian economy was not working under the APC.
He also lamented that “insecurity is ravaging the country and the country is deteriorating.”
Abure who appreciated the party faithful for their support in joining the movement to change and rescue the nation, also enjoined them to obtain their PVCs to bring about the much-needed real change in the country.
Earlier in his welcome address, the chief host of the town hall meeting, Deacon Chris Iyovwaye, had welcomed the LP presidential candidate and his entourage to the state.
While x-raying Obi, he said, “We are a people that are looking up to a great change for Nigeria. We are waiting for this great change and we are convinced that it’s resident in the life of our principal, Mr. Peter Obi.
“We are seeing the things that he has been saying and campaigning for from place to place. We are also seeing the kind of things that he has displayed across Nigeria.
“The fact of the matter is that every time you hear from “consumption to production,” you know that you’re already talking about him. We are looking at the man that wants to take us from potential to reality.
“We are looking at a man that wants to do things differently. We are looking at a man that has what it takes to change Nigeria.”
According to him, though Nigeria is blessed with a lot of mineral resources and other things, the country is not blessed with leadership, adding however that the paradigm shift rests on Obi if he is voted into power.
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