- I am going to Abuja to work for our people – Mimiko
- Buhari has performed wonderfully – Oyedele
- Atiku would rebuild Nigeria – Fadaka
By Banji Ayoola
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, in Ondo State on Thursday wrapped up their campaign activities for the Saturday presidential and National Assembly elections with a last minute appeal to the Nigerian electorate to troop out enmasse and vote their respective candidates.
Former Ondo State Governor and ZLP senatorial candidate for Ondo Central Senatorial District, Dr Olusegun Mimiko; PDP Zonal Publicity Secretary in the South West, Mr. Ayo Fadaka; and Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Ondo State, Engineer Ife Oyedele, spoke with The Radiance at separate interviews in Akure the state capital, on behalf of the parties.
Oyedele appealed “to Nigerians to troop out enmasse and vote for APC presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari for having performed wonderfully in the last three and half years.’’
His words: “I appeal to our people not to fear anything, for the Federal Government has made adequate arrangements to protect all well meaning Nigerian voters. I call on all law abiding citizens to go out and freely exercise their franchise.
“The elections would be peaceful based on the security provided all over the country. I admonish parents not to allow their children to be used to snatch ballot boxes. It is like a coup. Anybody who wants to dare the security agencies would face the full wrath of the law.”
On his own, the PDP spokesman in South West, Mr Ayo Fadaka, said that the elections represent an opportunity for Nigerians to peacefully and democratically change their guards now; particularly “those that have been managing the country for the past four years or thereabout and inject fresh blood.”
He said: “As far as the PDP is concerned, we have preached so seriously to become the party to reckon with as far as this election is concerned. Our party has traversed every nook and cranny of Nigeria asking Nigerians to vote for us. And this is because for the past three to four years, Nigeria has been going through a level of degeneracy.
“Values are dying. Hunger is prevalent. Our public health system is dead. And people are finding it difficult to feed. The Bureau of Statistics said that about 11.3million Nigerians lost their jobs within the three to four years Buhari has been in power. That itself is a very terrible development.
“To that extent, I call on Nigerians to know that we have a chance to rebuild our nation. We have a chance to place Nigeria firmly on a recovery path because Nigeria has descended into chaos for the past four years now. We have a chance again to ensure that we rewrite the story of our nation.
“Before now, it was rare for you to hear that a militia would invade a community, attack people in their sleep, kill them and take possession of their lands and properties. Before now, it was not possible for us to hear that Nigerians were kidnapped at will on our roads. It has become the order of the day under the Buhari administration.
“Therefore I ask Nigerians to go out and vote for PDP on Saturday. We have a candidate that is agile, very experienced; a man that is successful in every ramification of the word success, who is flying the flag of our party, and is ready to take Nigeria from this abyss level that these people have retarded us to, and take it to greater and lofty heights.’
When reminded that in view of his record of achievements so far, the APC in its campaign said that President Buhari is taking Nigeria to the next level, Fadaka said: “May the Lord forbid Buhari taking us from this change level to another level.”
He said: “The level they have taken Nigeria to has reduced Nigerians to a hungry set of people. Nigerians have been driven to penury, and they are seeking to take us to the next level of that? We say an absolute No.
“Their puerile lies for the past four years has been that PDP destroyed the nation, hence the parlous level the nation is today. But I keep asking them: If you are on a rescue mission, does destruction continue to get accentuated? It is a capital No. I am sure that majority of Nigerians cannot wait to send Buhari back to Daura where he came from, because his administration is an absolute failure.”
Painting the picture of Nigeria under what he perceived as an Atiku presidency, the PDP spokesman said: “Atiku is no stranger to reforms. He has been in government before. He worked with President Olusegun Obasanjo and Nigerians would readily know that that was a government that transformed Nigeria.
“They came to power at a time Nigeria was more or less a pariah state. They came into power at a time that nothing was working in Nigeria. And they were able to steer Nigeria out of the conundrum of debts. They were able to bring modernity into our nation. And I dare say that that administration is responsible for so many things that Nigerians are enjoying today.
“So, Atiku Abubakar is not a stranger to reforms. When he becomes President, he is going to reform Nigeria again. He is going to ensure that we as a nation emerge from this abysmal level and begin to rise again as a nation.
“I can assure you that under the presidency of Atiku Abubakar, insecurity would give way, inflation would be decimated, life would be easier, and Nigerians would be able to feed again, and our social system would begin to accentuate again.
“In the sense that it is tough for us to see the public health system work again in Nigeria today because they have killed it. It is almost impossible for us to see so many amenities working in Nigeria again today because they have destroyed all. Nigerians need a rebirth, and Atiku would ensure that.”
On his own, Mimiko who was on the last minute campaign tour of his Ondo Central Senatorial District, said that there is no alternative to democracy, as he urged Nigerians to go out on Election Day to cast their votes for ZLP candidates to improve living conditions in the country.
His campaign train was at Automart, the modern automobile market on the Ilesa – Akure – Owo expressway and the nearby used automobile parts market (Butcher), where the traders amid drumming, singing and dancing assured him of their votes chanting “Boo tile dibo, o ti wole”
Mimiko, who addressed them in an open roof jeep, carrying a baby from the jubilant crowd, was mobbed by the traders as his convoy drove into the automobile parts market. They mimed the song “Iroko One” blaring from the giant loudspeakers mounted atop one of the vehicles in the convoy. They sang among others “Gbe mi soke, gbe mi dide, fa mi lowo soke, ki n ga ju aye lo; ogo aye mi, je ko yo jade, tete se o Jesu, ma ma je o pe.”
In his address, Mimiko pledged to go to Abuja as a Senator and work for the generality of the people of his constituency, whom he said need help from government to sustain their businesses and improve their living conditions.
The people, he said, generally need what would bring progress to them, and are looking up to government for help.
He said that he is contesting the election to ensure “what government can do for our hardworking people.”
Said Mimiko: “I am going to Abuja to work for you. I am going to Abuja to fight for you to ensure adequate amenities, health care facilities that when your wife want to give birth, you won’t be asked to pay N175, 000 hospital bill.
“This is part of the help that government can give to our people. To ensure good and qualitative education for your children, free health. You need micro credit. I am going to fight for you. We are going to Abuja to fight for our people. To stand with you in your critical areas of need. All you need.
“We are going to sponsor bills and fight for the passage of laws to make life more comfortable for our people. We are a party of the masses. ZLP is the party of the common people, the hardworking people of Nigeria.
“On Election Day, when you see the logo of our party, press with your forefinger in front of it and vote for ZLP. We are a party that would fight for the masses. Preach the gospel of ZLP.’
Besides, he raised the hands of ZLP’s candidate for the Akure North/Akure South Federal Constituency seat for the House of Representatives election, Arc Jide Adejuyigbe, and asked them to vote him in that election.
