By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
The Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ifeanyi Okowa, has assured that if they are voted into office, they would drive away the hunger and the insecurity Nigerians are currently facing.
He said that they understand the problems the country is presently facing and if given the opportunity, they would turn things around for the good of the people.
Okowa, who is also the Delta State Governor stated this at the PDP presidential campaign rally which was held on Tuesday at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi.
He said that the Bauchi people have spoken with the huge crowd at the rally even as he expressed confidence that “the people of Bauchi will give us nothing less than two million votes.”
He described Atiku as a father who cares about Nigeria, the youths and the women; “and he knows that we are suffering because in the last eight years, the APC has brought suffering to our people.”
“But Atiku is going to turn Nigeria around and bring us to the Nigeria of our dreams where you will no longer be hungry, he will create employment for our youths, he’ll create employment for our women. We need to drive away the hunger in the land, we do not need to be hungry, we do not need to be poor as Nigerians. If we had the right policies they would have been driven for the good of the common man.
“I know that our father, our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, understands Nigeria, he understands the economy of Nigeria and he’s going to take us to that Nigeria that we dream about, where everybody will be happy, and the youths will be happy to stay in Nigeria rather than running overseas. Where our women will be happy to stay in their homes and see their children go to school and come out of school happy and be gainfully employed, that is the Nigeria that we want and that is the Nigeria that Atiku is going to provide for us.
“So, I plead with you that it is important that we go out there and ensure that everybody, those of you here and those at home, that the only man who can salvage Nigeria out of the current troubles that we are in, the very poor economy, the insecurity, the only man who can save us, as at today, is Atiku Abubakar. And we must go out there and campaign for him, we must go out there and tell our brothers and sisters and our parents that Atiku is the solution to the problems in Nigeria,” he stated.
In his speech, the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar promised that if elected, he would ensure that the oil wells recently discovered in the north are not closed but are explored to develop the region.
Atiku said: “For many years past, they’ve been telling us that there is oil and gas in the northeast from Lake Chad, now it is Bauchi and Gombe States. Today, here is your own from the northeast. If you vote for the PDP, we will ensure that the oil and gas exploration is done this time around. Nobody will close down our oil wells and say that there is no oil and gas, no, I want to promise you this by God’s grace.
“Secondly, people have been asking, if this crude oil is explored, how would it be transported? I want to assure you, we will revive our railways which would be used to transport this crude to wherever it would be taken to.
“You can even see our neighbours, Niger, explore oil, don’t they export it? There is also Chad, they also explore oil, don’t they export it? We also have our own ways of exporting this crude.
“I want to assure you, especially our youths and women, we are promising you, we will make available huge sums of money to empower those in businesses, men and women, especially the youth so that unemployment can be reduced.
“So, because of that, you don’t have any other party than the PDP because you have experienced great suffering under the APC leadership. So, we want to beg you to ensure that you vote for the PDP from top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top.”
He expressed gratitude to his supporters for coming out en masse to show their love for him and the party, saying that he has never seen such a massive crowd since he began his campaign about two months ago.
“I want to thank the people of Bauchi, especially members of the PDP in Bauchi State. Honestly, this is almost two months now that we’ve been going round the states to campaign, we have not seen this mammoth crowd who are supporters of the PDP like we have seen here in Bauchi today.
“Those insinuating that Governor Bala has not built PDP in Bauchi, today, we came and discovered that nobody has built PDP like Kaura has done.
“I want to beg you, anybody that will vote for me in Bauchi whether you’re a PDP member or a member of any party, if you’ll vote for me, also vote for Kaura. APC told us then “sak!” We’re also telling you “PDP sak!” (from top to bottom),” he pleaded.
In his remarks, the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed who spoke on behalf of other PDP candidates in the state, assured Atiku that the state belongs to him and all the votes that will come from there.
“I want to assure you that whether you come to campaign here or not, you will win more votes here than in any state in Nigeria. We will vote for you unconditionally without you giving us anything because you are us and we are you,” he stated.
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