Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has boasted that he will win the next general election, just as he told residents of Abia state nit to vote for a party that will not win the upcoming 25th February Presidential election.
The former Vice President reiterated his pledged to set aside a substantial amount of money for the rehabilitation of businesses in Aba, Abia State and the South East geo-political zone of the country, if voted in as the next President of Nigeria.
Atiku also said that he will ensure the provision of railway and rehabilitation of the federal roads in the entire South-Eastern region by the time PDP wins power at the centre.
The PDP presidential flag bearer made these commitments on Saturday while addressing the party’s presidential campaign rally in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
The Waziri Adamawa equally pledged to do everything possible to make the dry port in Aba to be functional as soon as he gets elected into office as President.
While expressing a firm optimism that PDP will emerge victorious in the forthcoming general election, Atiku appealed to the people of Abia State, the South East and Nigerians in general not to be distracted by other political parties that may be playing either religious or ethnic card.
The presidential candidate said, “Let me tell you, PDP is going to win. Therefore, it is better that you are on a winning ticket than on a ticket that cannot take you anywhere.
“I appeal to you not to be distracted by other political parties that may be playing either religious or ethnic card.
“In PDP, we have no religious or ethnic card, we play only Nigeria card. A card that will bring every body on board, a card that will give a sense of belonging to every part of this country, to every religion, to every ethnicity.
“I have seen a number of requests that you have made here. These requests are legitimate and they fall within our policy which we tagged: My Covenant with Nigerians, meaning our promise to Nigerians.
“The issue or railway is there, the issue of rehabilitation of federal roads is also there. Aba is the capital of South East as far as business is concerned.
“I remember when I addressed the business community in the South East in Aba, I promised them that I am going to set out a lot of money for the rehabilitation of businesses in Aba. That promise is still there.
“My Vice president has announced that we are going to set aside $10bn to make sure that we support businesses, particularly in this part of the country.
“On Abia dry port, many of you may not be aware, but I am one of those, as Vice President, who approved that dry port. “The promoters know that but for me, they would not have gotten the approval to set up that dry port. It will be my pleasure to make sure that that dry port functions and is operating.
“We in PDP, will be prepared to give Abians (indigenes of Abia State ) what Abians want. It is not an issue of ethnicity, it is not an issue of religion but it is an issue of good governance.
“You can all bear witness that when PDP was governing, Nigeria was prospering. That was the time Nigeria became the biggest economy in Africa.
“We created more jobs, we created more prosperity for everybody in this country. We brought about peace and we brought about unity.
“There was no question of people saying: we were marginalized or we were not represented and so on and so forth. We provided a balanced leadership to this country. So you have no reason not to vote for PDP”, he pointed out.
The Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP and Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, while also addressing the rally, pledged that PDP, when elected, will restore the dignity of the Igbos
According to Okowa, “We want to restore the dignity of the Igbo and I believe with the PDP government in place from May 29, with Atiku at the head and myself as his vice we will restore the dignity of the Igbo man.
“I want to beg us, we must not make the mistake of dividing the votes of the PDP because APC is in power at the moment. But we want to take them out because they have not done well and they have presented the same faith ticket.
“So, we have to stay united to fight that battle and in staying united we have to vote PDP”, he appealed.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, at the rally, recalled that when the party was formed in 1998, the Igbos played a key role.
Ayu thus challenged the younger generation of Igbos to come forward and show leadership, stressing that the South East people need outstanding leaders who will engage with the rest of Nigeria and bring benefits to their people.
While appealing to the people of the South East region to vote for the PDP at the fast approaching elections, Ayu said, “Voting Labour Party will not help you, it will be helping Bola Tinubu, who will marginalize you for the next eight years and another marginalization will take place for the next 16 years.
“The only party therefore available for you is the PDP which is an organic party, the party of the people and that is why when I see people like you I am happy, because PDP is the only party that no individual owns.
“This is the party owned by the people and will work for the people and therefore no single individual or a group of individuals, can distabilize this party, because it is owned by the people.
“This is the only party that will give you victory and make sure that you achieve the development goals that you desire.
“Let me tell you that the other party is an alliance, all they know is distortion of truth, propaganda, lies and that is why even if we say anything, they go and use electronic machine and distort what we say.
“I want to repeat here that the APC has brought shame to Nigeria. It is the only party that has come in and everything has deteriorated”, Ayu said.
