The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has made five promises to Nigerians if they vote for him and his Party as President in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Speaking at the Bayelsa State Presidential campaign rally at Ox Bow Centre in Yenagoa the state capital the former Vice President said he is committed to implementing five key programmes starting from the unification of Nigeria, “I am going to give every part of this country a sense of belonging in the next PDP Government, I promise to tackle insecurity. Here in Bayelsa state, you have faced several security challenges, you have lost so many people, due to breach of law and order, and I promise to restore security in this country”.
Atiku told the crowd of supporters that providing quality education and improving lives will be given due attention, especially improving the economy which will also be a major priority of his government, “we promised that we are going to tackle the economy and make sure that we provide jobs and other opportunities for our young men and women to be gainfully employed either in the private sector or public sector”.
On restructuring, he said the people of Bayelsa will benefit more from restructuring, “People in the Niger Delta need more restructuring than any other part of this country, we would give you more resources and power to deal with your problems, you don’t need to always beg the federal government for everything when you are producing the resources of the country, so we will devolve more power and resources to you in the Niger Delta”.
Atiku reminded them that as a state that has been PDP and produced a President, Goodluck Jonathan, under the party’s banner they should remain in the party to reap the fruits of their dedication, “I want to remind you since the beginning of democracy, Bayelsa has been PDP and PDP has been Bayelsa, everything you see in Bayelsa today was provided by the PDP government, everything, therefore I am calling on you, the people of Bayelsa not to leave PDP, don’t make the mistake of leaving PDP”.
The Vice Presidential Candidate Ifeanyi Okowa repeated his call for the house-to-house, market to market and community-to-community campaign model for personal contact and greater reach by supporters to all people of Bayelsa State to vote massively for the PDP, “this time, we want to come out with the vote that will make Nigerians respect the South-south.
I know that you can do it because in every election, the winning vote has always come from the South-South zone and we believe that this time, the winning vote will come from the South-South geopolitical zone”.
Okowa noted that this is the best opportunity they have as a party to reclaim the presidency and he believes PDP supporters in Bayelsa state are ready to go out and ensure that they deliver a minimum of 700,000 votes and the South-South zone a minimum of 5 million votes for the PDP to win. “We must reunify Nigeria; we must ensure that we restore peace in Nigeria. We must ensure that we grow the economy”, he said.
On his part, the National Chairman of the PDP Senator Iyorchia Ayu paid tribute to all governors of the PDP in Bayelsa State and promised that the party will always stand with the people and if Atiku and Okowa win the presidential election in 4 weeks they will make the votes count, “You promised to vote for PDP and PDP promised to look after your welfare. We know your problems, and we will stand by you. The PDP when we take power will seat with you and discuss all those things that make Bayelsa not develop. Do not abandon this party, this is the party of the people and with the people, we shall stand by”.
Ayu said the PDP with the votes of the people of Bayelsa will do its best to rebuild the economy, and restore and reform the economy for the collective good of all citizens and expressed gratitude over the return of four members of the House of Representatives and their supporters to the PDP.
Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Director General of the PDP Campaign Council said their candidates are concerned about the progress and development of the Niger Delta and will rise to the occasion in making a difference in the region, especially in Bayelsa state “Atiku/Okowa is very familiar with the issues in the South-South, Atiku is very familiar with the issue of insecurity in the South-South. Atiku is the only candidate in this election that has a clear pathway for restructuring Nigeria and not only that, he picked Sen. Seriake Dickson as his technical adviser on restructuring. You should know that Atiku means restructuring and he will do it and by the grace of God, there will be a better Nigeria where life will be more meaningful to all of us especially our women in Bayelsa, our farmers in Bayelsa, our fishermen in Bayelsa, our youths in Bayelsa and every Nigerian. Atiku will reposition Nigeria and will rescue it”.
The PDP Presidential rally in Bayelsa State, situated in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, surrounded by the sea, was a real spectacle as supporters showed their love for the party in their colourful attires, songs and dance on land and on the sea through boat regatta waving the PDP red, white and green flags.
Dominica Nwabufo
