Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says if elected, his administration will meet every demand of the residents in Ekiti state.
He spoke on Tuesday while addressing residents of Ekiti at the presidential rally of the party in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
According to TheCable, the former vice-president said he nearly “shed tears of joy” when he saw the crowd at the rally.
“When I came here today, what I saw almost brought tears to my eyes. When we came here, some people said we are not going to see anybody in Ekiti. We realised what they meant was to cripple public transportation in Ado-Ekiti and the whole of Ekiti state,” he said.
“Again they did not stop there. They also caused an artificial scarcity of petroleum products so that even if you have your motorcycle or car, you will not be able to move; so that they can stop people from coming here. But you braved all their challenges. When I came into this arena, I almost shed tears of joy.
“What I can assure you is that if you vote PDP to power next month — the way you have made us happy today — we will also make you happy in Ekiti state.
“We will go out of our way to provide everything that you want us to provide. Some people are talking about the road from here to Akure — we will do it. Not only that, all the roads that connect you to other states — we shall construct them.
“Ekiti state is a centre of intellectual discourse. You have more educated people in this state than in any other state in the country. I can assure you that the PDP federal government will make use of the human capital that God has endowed you in Ekiti.
“It is your God-given gift. We shall utilise the human resources that God has given you.”
Abubakar added that women and youths in Ekiti will benefit from the fund he has planned to set aside to tackle unemployment.
“Young men and women who want to get involved in enterprises will be given loans and capital so that they can achieve their lifetime ambitions,” he added.
The Punch reports that members of the Peoples Democratic Party trooped out to receive Abubakar, to Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, for the campaign rally.
Earlier in the day, commercial vehicles and motorbikes had been off the roads leaving inter and state commuters stranded.
Although the PDP members alleged that the transporters did not work in a bid to frustrate those who might want to attend the rally, the commercial transport operators said their action followed statewide prayers observed by their associations.
This was as a former governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose; former governorship candidate, Bisi Kolawole; acting PDP State Chairman, Lanre Omolase; seven of the nine PDP National Assembly candidates and 20 of 26 House of Assembly candidates shunned the presidential rally.
The PDP candidates, who had earlier rejected the inclusion of Social Democratic Party members in the Presidential Campaign Council for the state on the condition that it could hurt their elections, said all entreaties to meet with Atiku over the development were shunned by the presidential candidate.
Atiku, in his address to the rally, assured that if elected in the February 25 election, his administration would deploy all resources to attract socio-economic development, adding that he would be deliberate in the construction of roads leading to Ekiti State beginning with the Ado-Akure Road.
The PDP presidential candidate said, “I am highly impressed with the huge crowd we are seeing here today despite antics of the APC government to cripple and sabotage the rally with artificial fuel scarcity and stoppage of drivers from Ekiti roads; let me assure you that we will make you happy for making us happy today.
“Ekiti is a state of intellectual prowess and we will tap into this in our government to develop and transform the nation,” Atiku said.
PDP Vice Presidential candidate and Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, said, “With what we have seen here today, we are sure that the people of Ekiti State will vote for Atiku” as he urged the electorate in the state to “use your PVC to send APC out of Nigeria.”
Earlier, PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, handed over flags to the Ekiti South Senatorial candidate, Biodun Olujimi; and House of Representative’s candidate for (Ekiti South 1), Henrich Akomolafe.
