By Banji Ayoola
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Thursday inaugurated its Ondo State Presidential Campaign Council with a pledge to surpass the victory recorded in the 2015 election by the former Vice President and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku, who had contested that election with the ruling All Progressives Congress candidate, who eventually emerged the overall winner and the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, had won Ondo State in that election with a margin of 38, 000 votes.
To achieve this feat, it launched the ‘Atiku/Okowa 2023 Operation win your unit, win your ward”, as it charged the 530 members of the council to get cracking immediately to ensure total victory of its candidate in the February 25, 2023 presidential poll.
Besides, the party launched what it described as an emergency operation to rescue Nigeria from the mass suffering, poverty, hunger and maladministration which an alleged incompetent, corrupt and uncaring All Progressives Congress administration has imposed on the country in the past eight years.
Categorically, the party.s elders and leaders who spoke at the inauguration including the party’s state chairman, Hon Fatai Adams; Chairman of the State Campaign Council, Ambassador Roland Omowa; Director General of the Council, Dr Eddy Olafeso; the party’s Governorship Candidate, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN; and Chairman of the party’s Elders Council, Dr Omotayo Dairo alleged that the APC has ruined Nigeria with its perceived recklessness and impunity.
Also, a former Commissioner for Information and the party’s ex-Deputy Governorship Candidate in the state, Prince John Ola Mafo, who was also on the high table, in an interview at the event, reeled out reasons why Nigerians should send the APC packing in the 2023 elections.
Besides, Senator Boluwaji Kunlere, while justifying why Nigerians should elect Atiku as their next President, said also in an interview at the occasion that he is the most competent, experienced and mature among the contesting presidential candidates to lead the country.
The party’s state headquarters near the Old Owo Motor Park in Akure the state capital venue of the event was filled to capacity with members and supporters of the party wearing fez caps on which ‘Atiku’ was embossed. Many others, who outnumbered those inside and similarly wearing the caps, who got no space in the hall, hung around the venue to witness the event.
At about noon, the party’s state chairman inaugurated members of the council saying: “With the powers conferred on me by the National Leader of this great party and by the entire members of the PDP in Ondo State, I, Hon Adekanye Fatai Adams, the state chairman, hereby inaugurate the Presidential State Campaign Council today Thursday, 27th of October 2022 for the success of this great party, for the benefit of our people in Ondo State and to the Glory of the Almighty.”
In his address which he delivered extempore, Olafeso listed many points why Nigerians should elect Atiku, who he said had devoted his life to building a better Nigeria, to rescue the country from the precipice to which she is being pushed allegedly by the APC administration.
He said: “There is nothing left about Nigeria that has not been destroyed. They have stolen everything that can make Nigeria a better tomorrow. All your products that can make this country rich, the oil has been taken away.
“I was reading in the newspapers and watching on television that about $25 billion of our products were stolen to China and it was here that it went away. APC has ruined whatever is left of our apple. Our dignity is eroded. They have raped us. They have taken our women into the forests and they have done everything to ruin this country.
“Atiku is that man that can stand between them and a greater future for our country. I took this job because I know it is possible, and I believe in the man we have picked. And that is the reason why all of us must believe in him.
“And for those that I am appealing to that are not yet here like the chairman said, we want them too. We must embrace one another to do this job.
“When they approached me if I was going to accept this job, I rejected at the beginning. But looking at it, it’s like being called to do something to make the world a better place, and I looked at my own past from my beginning.
“I was born by a farmer with four wives and about nine children. We were just game of number. It is not as if we were entitled to anything. Chief Obafemi Awolowo came into our lives and made things different.
“I have spoken virtually everywhere in the world. Nobody ever bothered to ask if my family was poor or rich because we’ve been educated. It’s only good governance that can be led by Atiku Abubakar that can bring about the new hope that all of us are clamouring for families, women, younger generations of people, for employment, for everything. It is only Atiku that can bring this to reality.
“All of us have to do this job because Ondo State won in 2019 the largest votes in the South West. We are going to post far more than that in 2023. I know you can. This is the winning team. Nothing can defeat us and and we will sing victory song in February 2023.”
Stressing the need for the council to ensure victory for the party in all the coming polls, the Director General said that “the 2023 general election is a must win election because of the state of our nation.”
According to him: “In the last 50 years, the arrowhead of this struggle is Waziri Atiku Abubakar who has dedicated all his life to fighting for the enthronement of good governance and betterment of the Nigerian society.”
Olafeso charged the council members: “This position is for Nigeria, not for you. This position is for PDP and it is mission to rescue Nigeria. For all of us here present and for those that are yet to be convinced, because it is our duty to convince them, we are going to meet them. We are not going to leave anybody behind.
“If you are angry today, we would make you happy tomorrow. We are going to appeal to all of us to work together and to see a better Nigeria rather that to see a better future for ourselves. I want to appeal to all of us. You have one or two that are not here.
“Take the message home. Tell them so much that we want them to be with us and we want all of us to work together to produce the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, all the senators, House of Reps members, all the assembly members because we can.”
In his own speech, Jegede who spoke in a mixture of Yoruba and English, stressed why PDP should assume power again in 2023, saying: “Before PDP left, I wish to remind us that we were buying petrol at N87 per litre. Today it is N200.
“We used to buy a groundnuts bottle for N400. Today it is N1, 000. Rice that we used to buy for N18, 000, N25, 000 per bag now sells for N50, 000. Diesel now is N800 per litre. What of cooking gas, what of gari?
“By the grace of the Lord, He Himself will sweep APC off power because this suffering is too much, and it is enough. O to ge e. We won’t experience this suffering beyond February 2023. We pray that the Lord gives us patience to endure the suffering till they will vacate office. PDP is coming and it will pay us.”
He said that it is only the Lord Who grants appointment of human beings into positions of authority as he asked the council members to see their positions as delicate and of serious responsibility.
His words: “Let us go out and work with one mind because all of us are of PDP. PDP is one; and PDP is bigger than all of us. We come and go but PDP will remain. Those who were here in 1999, some of them are not here now, PDP continues.”
Jegede said: “Let me bring you greetings from the National Chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council. He is aware that we are seated here today because this is part of the process and he asked us to go back to our polling units and ensure that we deliver for PDP.
“We should deliver from the House of Assembly to the House of Reps, to the Senate and to the Presidency, because if we are voting for Atiku Abubakar, he will need the help of those in the Senate, House of Reps, and also those in the House of Assembly.
“This election is a must win for PDP and by the grace of the Lord we must win it. All of us must make sure, go back to our units and win this election.
“As observed by Olorogun Olafeso, in 2019, we did it and we were not many but the Lord rewarded us, and He will reward us in the coming election. We won for Atiku then by a margin of 38,000 votes. No other state in the South West was able to win that margin.
“Oyo won by a margin of 1,500. Osun, Lagos and Ekiti lost. We won. We will repeat this feat and do better. We can deliver. That is why Olorogun said this is the winning team, and by the grace of the Lord we will win this election and we will tell everybody that PDP has come to stay.
“Let me congratulate all of us because it will be well. Let me thank all our leaders who are here. We are followers. I must thank Col Omowa specially for offering to serve at this moment.
“For those who did not know, during the 1976 coup, he was a captain going to major, when Gen Murtala Mohammed was killed, and Gen Olusegun Obasanjo was the Chief of Staff. Col Omowa was the ADC to the Chief of Staff then, Gen Obasanjo.
“In the killings then, he escaped by whiskers. And may be the Lord saved him for this project because by His grace, he is going to deliver. I thank all of you members of this committee, my chairman, my leader and my leaders, all state committee members are our leaders.”
In his own speech, Omowa expressed confidence in the abilities of Adams, Jegede, Olafeso, the deputy directors and all the council’s members to deliver the state in the coming elections.
He said: “You people have done it before and I am confident that you can do it again. My special thanks will go to the women because when it comes to voting and being steadfast, women are stable. That is not to say that we men are not reliable.
“This issue is not by words of mouth. The blind can hear and the deaf can see where APC has led us. It does not need any campaign for anybody this time around to know what to do.
“When I stand here and look at everybody here, I am confident that we will do it and by the grace of the Lord we will do it. Today is working day. Look at this hall and outside. If all of you can leave whatever you are doing to come and answer this call, I thank you.”
In his own address, Adams explained that the party’s leadership in the state carefully looked at the criteria set from Abuja, made very wide consultation with leaders and elders of the party before it arrived at the 530 state campaign council members structure.
He said that aside three principal officers, the council has 14 directorates shared on equal basis among the three senatorial districts.
The party chairman said: “There is no federal constituency that doesn’t have at least one Deputy Director who is going to be the chairman of that Directorate and who will report directly to the Director.
“I want to congratulate each and every one of us for this party to count you worthy to be a member of the state campaign council. We are talking about presidential election for that matter. After the inauguration, you will collect your letter. We have arranged them by senatorial districts.
“You must treasure the letter, you must nurture it because this letter will be very useful for you in the nearest future, I can assure you that. Whether APC likes it or not, Atiku is going to be president of this country. What is the purpose of being a member of this state campaign council?
“We believe that there is no member of this campaign council that doesn’t have a minimum of 20 automatic voters. Multiply that. We are talking about 10,600. Each of these should be able to get additional five. That is 83,000 automatic votes. If you follow the structure, by the time you add all the canvassers as stipulated by the guidelines, you have another 36,000 across the 3,933 polling units in Ondo State. That would give us about 76,000 automatic votes.
“It’s not just to come here, after the inauguration, you throw the letter away. We have to be on the run on daily basis. How am I going to improve on my unit, how do I win my ward. Operation win your unit, win your ward is this election.
“Atiku/Okowa 2023 is operation win your unit, win your ward. Win your unit win your ward should and must be total. Vote PDP all through. Your assembly, rep, senatorial, presidential candidates, it must be total for PDP. By the time we have that, 90 percent will be already in and we have the governor in our pocket. We have little to do after the 2023 inauguration.
“I want to plead that we should take this very serious. Like my own letter I am going to keep it where I keep my educational certificates. By the time you have your unit result and you have your letter, that is additional qualification for you to get patronage of PDP.
“I thank our father Ambassador Roland Omowa for accepting this responsibility. It’s a call to service. Dr Olorogun Eddy Olafeso surprises me. I thank H. E. Eyitayo Jegede, DDs and other members.
“Ondo PDP is united. We are one. There is no segregation. There is no leader in this party that we didn’t recognise. Let us work together and win this election. Forget about what had happened in the past. We are together, we can make it.”
In an interview at the event, Mafo said: “At this critical stage of our national development when it is crystal clear to all Nigerians that the government of APC in the last eight years has taken Nigeria back so many years; that the security situation in the country has worsened; that the level of corruption has skyrocketed and our economy has gone into comatose; there is this popular proverb that if we don’t know where we are going, we should at least know where we are coming from.
“And Nigerians can readily remember that as at 2015 when they were changing PDP for APC, a bag of rice was selling for just about N9, 000 which now goes for N40, 000; a litre of PMS which sold at the rate of N87 is now going for over N200 at the urban centres, at the rural level it is over N300 in many parts of the country.
“It should not be too difficult for Nigeria to return PDP to power so that if not all, most of the negative developments in the last eight years can be corrected to make life better for Nigerians.
“Today, the best apologists and supporters of APC will readily agree that the country has been shortchanged in many ways that the APC is a bad omen for Nigeria; and Nigeria cannot continue for another few months after May 29, 2023. Otherwise the country which is in a state of comatose and with structures almost dilapidated, will finally give up the ghost.
“The situation of APC is so terrible, so unpalatable and so destructive to the Nigerian nation that even the presidential candidate of APC cannot campaign with the programmes of President Buhari.
“If the presidential candidate is dodging questions on the performance of his party in the last eight years and that it is on record that he as Bola Ahmed Tinubu played a key role in the emergence of Buhari as president of Nigeria, which he himself always confirms at regular interval, what then is his justification, what is his point, what gives him the courage and hope that Nigerians will once again take his word for it to elect APC once again in this country, given our bitter experience of going to eight years now?
“What Nigerians are waiting for anxiously with an unquestionable resolve is for February 25, 2023 to come as quickly as possible so that they can put an end to the regime of the party that has made Nigeria the poverty headquarters of the world and has set Nigeria back in all ramifications – social, economic, security, everything. There is no room for them to continue with their maladministration.”
Also in an interview at the occasion, Senator Boluwaji Kunlere said that Nigerians should elect Atiku as their next President because “of all the presidential candidates, he is the most competent, the most experienced and the most mature that can handle Nigeria.”
Omowa, Adams, Jegede and Dairo
Cross sections
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