Elections: Fulani Political Forum Supports PRP’s Presidential Candidate

The Fulani Political Forum in Nigeria has endorsed Kola Abiola, the presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP).

The group also promised to deliver more than seven million (7,000,000) votes for the party’s presidential candidate.

The patron of the forum, Ibrahim Abdullahi, made the endorsement at a rally held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

‘Abiola is a man with the capacity to bring the change we are clamouring for.

‘We identified with PRP based on their manifesto which is people-centered. 

‘We have not seen the difference between the two major political parties in Nigeria. We, therefore, call on Nigerians to give PRP a chance.

‘What we are hoping for is a complete change, and in Abiola we see a gentleman that isable to drive Nigeria forward,’ said Abdullahi.

He disclosed that the Fulani pastoralists used to have about five million votes but now the opportunity to register online and generate a data of young Fulani graduates has been created.

‘We provided them with devices to go to nomadic settlements to register those people so that We’ll be able to increase our voting capacity.

‘We are happy to inform Nigerians that we’ll be able to produce seven million votes now confidently. 

‘Other parties should support him because of the contribution of his father, the late MKO Abiola, who had done a lot for this country in so many spheres of life.

‘Given what happened to his father, I think Nigeria should support his son to rule this country. That is called justice,’ he added.

Mr. Abdullahi also urged Nigerians not to vote based on religious or ethnic grounds, saying Nigerian should vote on capacity, patriotism and justice.

In his speech, the People’s Redemption Party’s presidential candidate, Kola Abiola, promised to fix the nation with the support of the Fulanis.

He said the June 12, 1993 presidential election, presumably won by the late MKO Abiola, his father, would continue to be a reference point in Nigeria’s political history and the outcome of the 1993 election was accepted by all because it reflected the will of the people.

‘We have done an election in this country before which is still the fairest and most equitable election in this country up till today-  that was in 1993.

‘Did we have any fight? We did not. But as long as the will of the people is taken into consideration and they allow their votes to count, I really don’t see any violence happening.

‘When you start feeling aggrieved, it is a different ball game.

‘But as long as it runs free and fair for everybody, the outcome will be accepted across board,’ Abiola said.

While calling on party supporters to hold the different candidates of the party accountable, Abiola said he would ensure that women and Persons living with Disabilities (PWDs) were carried along, if elected.

He promised to empower Nigerian youths, if elected president of Nigeria, noting that the biggest legacy the party would bequeath the youths was to enthrone role models to enable them take over and rule the country.

The Issue of Currency Swap

Abiola expressed his dismay over the unavailability of the new naira notes, stressing that the policy which came at the election period was unfortunate.

The PRP presidential aspirant described the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as ill-timed as it has compounded the woes of ordinary citizens in the villages across the country.

‘We have a situation where the policy is coming too late and it was not really thought out, and the banks can not cope with the influx.

‘We do not have enough cash out there; many of our citizens are not even in the banking system. If you are in a village or in a local government area that doesn’t have a bank, how can they change money?

‘You need to be inclusive first before you bring a policy that is inclusive. We are not even inclusive; how do we even transact?

‘The banking software, the Fintech, are not robust to take the volume of the activities you are forcing it to do online.

‘What has happened is that a lot of banking softwares have crashed.

‘Nobody is doing the audit of the banking softwares to be sure that they can actually cope with the volume increase,’ he added.