Despite the absence of Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde and other members of the G5 also known as Integrity Group at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential campaign rally in Ibadan on Thursday, the party leadership has said it would sweep all the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in this year’s general elections.
The governor, a member of the G-5 aggrieved governors of the PDP, some of the party’s candidates in the senatorial and House of Representatives in the state and the deputy national chairman (south), Ambassador Taofek Arapaja shunned the campaign rally.
It would be recalled that members of the G5 who were available during Makinde’s campaign rally in Ibadan were absent.
However, the party leadership commended governor Makinde for his logistics support and allowing members of the party in the state to attend the rally.
The party’s presidential candidate, who appealed to the people of the state to come out and vote for party’s candidates from top to down, insisted on his commitment to improve the living standard of Nigerians if elected president in the February 25 election.
He listed its five main commitments to include unity of the country, to take control of the security situation for peace to reign in different parts of the country, and provide employment opportunities for the youth, women and make life of the people.
He added that if elected, the south west would be industrialised.
He also promised restructuring which would give more resources and power to the states and local government areas.
Atiku, who noted that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had failed to implement its promises, urged Nigerians to vote the party out.
Speaking, the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu who lamented the poor living standard of Nigerians, called on the aggrieved party members “to come back home because we are ready to sweep the country”.
He said the leadership of the party had worked tirelessly to make the party for the people, saying that no individual can control the party, “it is being controlled by the people”.
Ayu, who described Makinde as his younger brother, said the crisis within the party was a family affair.
“We are to have differences, as a father, aggrieved members should come back home because we are going to sweep the country, as the party is going to recover its leadership position in the country”, he declared.
The party’s vice presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa who described the APC’s achievements in the last eight years as bad, said enough was enough and called on Nigerians to use their Permanent Voter’s Card to show the APC “We are not happy for what they have done in the past eight years.