As the Presidential campaign train of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hits Katsina State, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state, the former Vice President and PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has wooed the support of indigenes on the need to elect him the next president and fulfill the unachieved dream of the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.
Atiku said the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua anointed him the presidential candidate in 1993, but could not fulfill his dream before his death.
The former Vice President while addressing the party faithful who thronged the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina, told them to help the late Yar’Adua achieve his dream by voting him and making him the next president in the country.
According to him: “I was introduced into politics by late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory and I grew up in politics in Katsina. Later, late Shehu anointed me as the presidential candidate in 1993.
“Today, it is time to fulfill the dream of late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. Would you help Shehu achieve his unfulfilled dream?” Atiku said. The APC-led government have not fulfilled its campaign promises. “The APC, three and half years ago, came here to promise you that they will restore the economy, improve security and unemployment, but they have failed.
“I am assuring you that if elected, we would restore the security, address the issue of unemployment and by the time that is done, we must have addressed hunger in the country. We would closely work with Lado (Katsina governorship candidate) to achieve this together in the state level,” Atiku stated.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Uche Secondus, yesterday, said the All Progressive Congress, APC, is bent on rigging the forthcoming general elections in the country.
Secondus stated this in Katsina while reacting to the recent statement credited to Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. Governor El-Rufai had threatened foreign powers whom, he said, may have had the intention to interfere with the coming elections in the country, to jettison the idea or “leave Nigeria in body bags.”
But the PDP Chairman said El-Rufai’s statement meant that the ruling party is confused and bent on rigging the forthcoming through dubious means. He, however, vowed that the PDP and Nigerians would resist any form of rigging in the country.
According to him, “the APC government are confused, they are worried and are adopting all sorts of measures to make sure that they rig this election.
“And you know the spirit of confusion have entered them. One of their governors, Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna State) attacked the International communities, saying that members of the global democratic institutions that are working for a peaceful election in Nigeria would return to their countries in body bags.
“Which means that APC, their leadership and their plan, is to destabilise this election. “Let me remind you that in 2015, the same El-Rufai and other leaders of APC travelled as far as United States to ask for International observers that witnessed the elections. But because they want to rig, they don’t want the international observers to come.
“The will of the people will prevail. Because of the confusion in APC, they have lost all the polls from the international, local and national. And they have lost the victory to Atiku. Atiku is winning and that is why APC is confused.
“They have resorted to redeployment of the Commissioners of Police and destroy institutions like the Nigerian Police Force and the Military.
They want to compromise them to aid them to rig the elections. “You cannot destroy the will of the people and Nigerians. Atiku is the symbol of unity for our country.” Secondus said.
He however urged the electorates to come out en masse to vote for Atiku and Lado just as he urged them to ensure their votes counts.
Similarly, the Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, wooed the electorate to make him the next president to fulfil the dream late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua could not achieve during his lifetime. He said he would work closely with the Governorship candidate in the state, Yakubu Lado Danmarke, to restore security and lost glory in the state.
The party leader in the state, Bar. Ibrahim Shehu Shema, urged the electorates to vote wisely, saying Atiku stands to unify and heal the country. Earlier, the Governorship candidate in the state, Yakubu Lado Danmarke claimed that the APC destroyed sixteen (16) years of PDP achievements.