Yekini Jimoh – Lokoja
A former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, has urged the people of Kogi west district to end the widespread suffering in the country by voting for Atiku as the next president of Nigeria.
He made the charge over the weekend at Kabba while addressing a well-attended mega rally organised by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to showcase its candidates contesting the election.
He charged to be steadfast and committed to the ongoing efforts to rescue Nigeria from misrule by voting for Atiku Abubakar and other candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) in the coming February 25 and March 11 general elections.
Idris said the district’s people should end the country’s widespread suffering by voting for Atiku as the next president of Nigeria.
He described Atiku as a detribalised Nigerian with the experience and capacity to rescue Nigerians from pangs of hunger, poverty, insecurity and unemployment.
The former governor warned the people not to eschew sentiment and allow common sense to guide them while casting their votes.
Idris said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had plunged the country into a monumental crisis, saying that only tested, trusted, and experienced politician like Atiku Abubakar can navigate Nigeria out of its present state of abyss.
He charged the electorate in district not to give APC a chance to win any elective positions, urging them to vote only for the PDP candidates to make the rescue mission easier for the incoming PDP government to accomplish.
Staunch party members, including a former Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Alfa Ahmed Imam, Hon. Yahaya Karaku, Hon. Victor Adoji from Kogi East were at the rally.
In his speech at the rally, the state chairman of the PDP, Mr. Sam Ohutu, charged party members to close ranks and approach the coming elections with determination and the sole purpose of defeating the APC.
He decried the discomfort and sufferings Nigerian have been subjected to since 2015 under the APC, urging the voters in the senatorial district to rise to liberate themselves by voting for all PDP candidates in the coming election.
The Chairman appealed to the people of Kogi State to help PDP regain power by voting for all its candidates contesting the election.
Ohuotu said the state is blessed with abundant solid mineral resources that can be exploited and developed to reduce poverty and create jobs and wealth for the state’s people.
A staunch member of the PDP in the state, Senator Tunde Ogbeha charged members of the party and voters in the zone to vote en masse for the party in the elections.
Ogbeha said the APC had failed woefully, saying that the party should not be rewarded with another term.
Also addressing the rally, Chief Shola Akanmode stressed the need for party members to embark upon the door-to-door campaign for the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and other party candidates contesting the elections.
Akanmode, a former Deputy Chief of staff in the presidency, also charged them not to give in to tribal sentiments being bandied about some elements.
He said that Nigerians are facing common problems of hunger, poverty, unemployment, and insecurity irrespective of tribe and religion, urging them to vote for Atiku and other candidates of the PDP to save the country from total collapse.
Former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP and one of the spokesman of Atiku Abubakar, Hon. Kola Ologbondiyan who addressed the rally in the local dialect, said the APC has failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians since coming to power.
Ologbondiyan said the APC has failed to deliver its campaign promises to Nigerians.
He said the APC promised to fight corruption, stop the insurgency, provide jobs, give a stable power supply, and provide infrastructure but failed to deliver on any of these.
Ologbondiyan said Atiku Abubakar is most prepared for the job among those contesting the presidential election on February 25.
According to him, As a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar knows Aso Rock Villa inside out and has the experience, knowledge, intellect, and gut to lead Nigeria out of its many troubles.
He called on Nigerians not to gamble with the country’s future, growth, and development by voting for the wrong person, saying Atiku Abubakar remains Nigeria’s best bet as its next president as of May 29, 2023.
The former PDP national spokesman also urged the voters to vote for all other candidates of the party contesting the national and state assembly elections.
The Kogi West zonal Chairman of PDP, Sam Abenemi, called on party members to be resolute by voting PDP from top to bottom.
He called on them to come out in large numbers to vote for the candidates of the PDP in the elections.
Abenemi further charged them to learn from Osun State governorship by hanging around after voting to ensure their votes count.
A former Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Yomi Awoniyi, while addressing the rally urged the people to end the suffering they are going through in the hands of the APC government by voting for PDP candidates in the coming elections.
Awoniyi party members canvass votes for all party candidates, saying that the APC should be stopped from doing further damage to the country.
While addressing the rally, the state PDP woman leader, Olori Margaret Orebiyi, and a former state Chairman, Alhaji Hassan Salawu, called for total support for all the candidates.
Hon. T.J. Yusuf and Hon. T.J. Faniyi, who spoke on behalf of national assembly candidates of the party in the senatorial district, promised to ensure quality representation if elected.
Yusuf is the party’s senatorial candidate for Kogi West. At the same time, Faniyi is the party’s House of Representatives Candidate for the Yagba federal constituency, while Olaiya Michael Olobatoke is the candidate for Ijumu/Kabba-Bunu federal constituency, Hon. Shaba Ibrahim is the House of Representatives candidate for the Lokoja/Koto federal constituency.
Yusuf and Faniyi also promised to deliver on their election promises and ensure that the people enjoy democratic dividends.
The highlight of the rally was the presentation of the party’s flag to all national and house of assembly candidates.
