Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor of Delta, Sen Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has said that the party’s Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is most prepared and competent person to lead Nigeria out of its present travails.
Okowa stated this at the Anambra State Presidential Rally at the Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, on Thursday.
He thanked Anambra people for their huge support to the party, and assured that the party would not disappoint them when elected in 2023.
“Our party has chosen Atiku Abubakar and myself as Presidential Candidate and Vice-Presidential Candidate.
“Among all the candidates for the 2023 Presidential Election, Atiku Abubakar is the most competent and most prepared to lead Nigeria out of the present challenges bedevilling the country.
“He has prepared a manifesto titled ‘My Covenant With Nigerians’ and it is designed to rescue, reset and rebuild Nigeria from the ruins of the APC-led administration,” he said.
Okowa said he had traversed the country and had seen the enthusiasm of Nigerians towards returning the PDP to the leadership of the country in 2023.
“In the last two months we have been going round the country and I am very convinced that PDP will win the next election.
“So, I appeal to you all to work hard so that when the victory of PDP will he announced Anambra State will be counted among the states that the party won,” he added.
The Presidential Campaign team had earlier visited Anambra Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, at Governor’s Lodge and the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council.
Soludo had assured that the state government would provide level-playing ground for all political parties to speak to people of the state on their programmes.
However, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, says the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate Bola Tinubu is unfit to be President of Nigeria.
Spokesman of the PDP Campaign Organisation, Mr Charles Aniagwu stated this on “AIT Kakaaki” on Thursday and stressed that Tinubu lacked the mental alertness to lead a country like Nigeria.
He stated that Tinubu was being foisted on Nigerians for selfish reasons and urged Nigerians to reject the APC candidate due to his mental capacity to articulate issues.
According to him, Tinubu’s many gaffes in recent times buttresses the argument that he lacks the mental alertness to lead a county in troubled times.
“The inability of the APC Presidential candidate to carry on his campaigns seamlessly is a pointer to the fact that he is being managed and that is not the kind of leader Nigerians deserve at this time.
“Tinubu is a great leader and we respect him for all his accomplishments and contributions to nation building in the past.
“A situation where a Presidential candidate cannot speak coherently for only two minutes calls for serious concern.
“And that’s why we can hardly hear from our brother Festus Keyamo again because the kind of things he defends is already becoming an embarrassment to the legal profession,”
Aniagwu further remarked that the abrupt departure of the APC Presidential candidate from the Minna rally was an indication that all was not well with him.
“The other day at Chatham House, he was asked his name and somebody had to slip a piece of paper to him, he couldn’t remember immediately to the extent that he had to read the paper to remember his date of birth, is that the kind of president the APC wants for this country?
“I am happy that President Muhammadu Buhari is not following them about in this campaign because he saw what the APC Governors didn’t see what he saw prior to the party primaries when they stopped Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a man that has demonstrated great intellectualism from clinching the party’s ticket.
“And we thank God that they did not progress in that direction because may be we would have had something that looks like a contest in this election,” he said.
Aniagwu further said that having realised they had failed Nigerians, the APC always laid claims to Lagos as part of their achievements even though Lagos was built over time by the Federal Government.
“Each time you ask them to give account of their party’s stewardship they refer you to Lagos. The Lagos that was built by the Federal Government as a former Federal capital? Or is it the Lagos that you will spend five hours for a journey that shouldn’t take not more than thirty minutes?
“They talk about the Lagos economy and I ask who collects the tax and does the tax reflect in the lives of the citizens? A Lagos that Nasir El-Rufai, an APC governor had amply described as a living ‘hell’?
“These people don’t believe that Nigeria should get out of the cocoon and so I appeal to Nigerians to reject the APC and all what they represent and embrace the PDP because the Atiku-Okowa PDP ticket is totally committed to the rescue, reset and rebuild Nigeria from the ruins caused by the APC’s maladministration,” Aniagwu stated.
Meanwhile,The Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo has called on politicians and candidates of various political parties to take Nigeria’s development as a top priority above personal interest.
The Governor who made the remark when the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and his Vice, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa paid him a courtesy call at the governor’s lodge in Amawbia noted that in the business of building Nigeria, Anambra and Igboland should be an open place for anyone.
According to him, “Nigeria is bigger than any political party and the business of building the country is bigger than any politician.
“In this business of building Nigeria, Anambra and Igboland should be an open place for anyone.
“Just give us your proposition and tell us how you will fix the country.
“I am very glad you are here to canvass for votes and I believe our people will listen carefully to every word you have to tell them,” Governor Soludo said.
“Our orientation is to have a level playing field for everyone.
“Politics is about development and we want the South East to feel this development,” Soludo noted.”
Soludo observed that Reconciliation and Reconstruction is what the country is yet to come to terms with, adding,
“The federal highways constructed in the Shagari era are no longer motorable. My administration is already spending few billions on federal roads.
“The bottom line is that we want to change the life of the average citizen.
“Our people are all ears. We pray for you, for Nigeria and wish you the very best of luck.”
In his speech, the PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said that the visit was to pay a courtesy call Governor Soludo as the APGA Governor in Anambra State.
He explained that his relationship with Soludo is beyond partisan politics but a commitment to undertake reforms in the Nigerian economy.
The PDP Presidential hopeful said, “This is beyond party politics. There should be a consensus on how we move forward and I consider Governor Soludo as a partner in that respect.
“It is my singular respect and honour for him to receive me in the state. In spite of our different political affiliations, there should be some core values we should agree to, towards the development of our country.
“I thank Governor Soludo for going beyond party politics. He didn’t shut the gate against us. We are all partners in our reform agenda as far as Nigeria is concerned.
“The Governor personally told me he was not available in the state but had to find a way back to receive me. I thank him for the opportunity and wish for God’s blessings upon his life and upon Anambra State.”
