Former Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki on Thursday gave reasons why Kwarans should vote for all PDP candidates in the state in the upcoming 2023 General Election.
Saraki said the hardships Nigerians had been made to face under the APC government and other challenges facing the country had made it important for every Nigerian to take a decision to support the PDP presidential candidate, Kwara being made to be the odd one out , he noted, will definitely not be in the interest of the people of the state.
‘Let us go back to the time of PDP, let us go where Nigeria is going’ he said.
Saraki added that while no Kwaran has played a major role or gotten positioned as a prominent stakeholder among those joining other presidential candidates on their campaign trails, he has however continued to play a central role in that of the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar .
Calling the former Vice President a friend of Kwarans , Saraki said having a PDP president will make it easy for a PDP governor to fulfill his campaign promises like Governor Ademola Adeleke had according to him told Osun state people recently.
He also promised that a PDP-controlled Federal Government will prioritize fixing the Kaiama-Kishi road.
The former senate president said this on Thursday while addressing party members and supporters at the Mandate Office, Olorunsogo, Ilorin during the inauguration of the ‘Unified Campaign Council’ that was recently set up by the Kwara state PDP.
Saraki, who commended party members for attending the event in large numbers , used the opportunity to thank them for staying put and not leaving the ‘political structure’ and the PDP despite the election loss that was recorded in 2019.
‘I thank you immensely for not leaving since 2019 , you did not lose hope despite temptations, hardships and difficult times. You have stayed with this house since three years ago. Some are already smelling victory and it will come, this was however made easy by those who had stayed put. We thank those who left and decided to come back’ he said.
Saraki, who congratulated members of the campaign council, also prayed God to give them the strength to deliver the tasks while reminding them that ‘millions of people are relying and depending on you for victory’.
The former senate president also noted that all party members and supporters are members of the campaign council and he has promised an effective ‘reward system’ after the elections.
‘It is not only members of the campaign council that will be active, all of us will win election for us we are all members and all will be rewarded .
Everyone who works will be compensated , go and work and get compensated. The work is starting today fully no time to sleep anymore.
The youth leaders , women leaders ,it is now room to room, door to door, house to house campaign to ensure that we win, everybody is important’ he added.
While taunting the sitting governor in the state for not according to him inaugurating any project since coming on board , he also alleged that those handling projects for the state were already being pressurized in a manner suggestive of the need to do a rush job in order that projects could be inaugurated next month.
Saraki also said he had since been vindicated in respect of accusations made against him ahead of the 2019 general election.
‘All the lies against my person before 2019 general election , they said we did Offa robbery that I do bring plane to transport monthly allocations.
Have I not been flying home since last three years?
They said he wanted his son to become the governor but if Iam selfish , a new person will not be nominated by the party as guber candidate , if it is about siphoning off government funds , doing that will not be possible’ he said.
Kwara state PDP gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Shuaib Yaman Abdulahi , who called PDP the oldest party and the most progressive in the country, also asserted that there are only two parties in the state; PDP and others .
This, he noted, had found expression in ‘what PDP had done and the unfortunate experience we had put in place which had become catastrophic for the people of Kwara state’.
‘In 2019 we all thought Kwara will move forward but it has been put on a reverse gear and road to perdition, the current administration has reversed all the gains of the past and that is why we say where we have come from is better than where we have found ourselves.
We were warmly welcomed by the PDP, a party that doesn’t care about where you come from ,what you have done in the past but rather what Kwarans stand to gain by having you joined the party, it is progressive in outlook and nature’ he said.
While asserting that the people of Kwara North will show appreciation to the party for ‘zoning’ its guber nomination to the senatorial district, he added that they do this by voting massively for the PDP in the general election scheduled to hold next year.
He also accused the current administration of allegedly putting the foundations of Kwara state in a shaky form by allegedly adding N55 billion to the state’s debt.
Also speaking, Chairman, Kwara state PDP, Alhaji Babatunde Mohammed , who congratulated all the members of the campaign councils at all levels, predicted victory for the party in the 2023 general election .
‘What happened in 2019 was a temporary setback, PDP has come back stronger and with the support of every stakeholder , we will win.
The battle ahead is a task that must be given the seriousness it requires , we have learned our lessons we have identified where we have problems, some members worked against us in 2019 but we have done the needful to prevent this. Presidential election will hold on 25th February and Governorship election will hold on March 11, go back to your local governments and wards to ensure victory for our party.
This election will be different. We must deliver . It is my hope and belief that everyone will work for victory. It is going to be a violence -free campaign’ he said
Chairman of the state Campaign Council, former Speaker Ahmad Ali , who gave the acceptance speech on behalf of other members of the Unified Campaign Council, said, ‘it is a huge responsibility but we will deliver on our assignment we will win and we have won , we are only waiting for the Election Day.
‘We have been given the party flags and we are taking it to the Government House what those in the other political parties have gotten is called ‘arodan’.
All the lies three years ago have been exposed and this is the final lap’ he added.
Highlights of the event include the declaration of the Unified Campaign Council inaugurated by the state PDP Chairman, Alhaji Babatunde Mohammed at 1.07 pm and the presentation of letters of appointment to members of the Unified Campaign Council by Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki- Team@orientactualmags.com
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