.Receives two PDP govs, others in Benin
.’We need a President that can rebuild, unite nation’
.Consensus candidacy best for unity – Saraki
.PDP will chase APC out of Presidency, says Okowa
Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo has said that Nigeria as a country no longer has a big cake to share as it was doing some 40 years ago.
According to him, whoever wants to be the next president must be ready to bake a big cake for all Nigerians to share.
The Edo State Governor, stated this on Monday, when he received leading presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to discuss the party’s zoning formula ahead of the 2023 General Elections.
They include the Governors of Sokoto and Bauchi States, Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed respectively; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki and foremost economist, Alhaji Mohammed Hayatudeen, among others.
Receiving the visitors at the Government House in Benin City, Obaseki said the country was in dire need of a leader with the capacity to unite and rebuild the nation.
According to him, “40 years ago, we had a big cake to share but not today. That cake has disappeared. Whoever aspires to be president of this country must be somebody who Nigerians are ready to give ingredients to start to rebuild a bigger cake for us all.”
Obaseki continued: “For us in Edo, we are ready for building a bigger, stronger and better Nigeria as we can’t continue the way we are today. We are concerned that except the PDP comes out and rallies Nigerians around, it will be difficult to pull Nigeria back from the brinks.
“Things are really bad and difficult for our people. We have never had it this bad. We have never had the level of combination of poverty and inflation as food inflation in Nigeria is pushing millions of people into starvation, coupled with the security challenges.
“Many have been kidnapped in Nigeria as we speak and this is not about individual aspirations but about Nigeria. We need the country to survive to be able to push our individual aspirations. I thank you for providing leadership and trust in God Almighty that has given you the wisdom to make Nigeria the higher goal.”
He further added, “I can’t thank our visitors enough for bringing a new lease of life into our politics. This is a new model in leadership selection where leaders with higher aspirations can come together for the good of the people.
“They are working towards a consensus candidate arrangement knowing the task of becoming Nigeria’s president.”
Earlier, Saraki, who spoke on behalf of others, said the visit was to canvas for the option to adopt a consensus candidate ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He said, “We all know the various situations that exist in our country and the need for the PDP to provide a platform and in doing that, we realize that the interest of the country is more paramount to our own interests.
“As such, we have come together and agreed that we should work out a consensus where we don’t all just go to the field. We don’t want our energy to be focused on just trying to get to power, but on how to help make Nigeria better.”
Saraki added, “A lot of Nigerians out there are really going through a hard time and as a party, we want to show that we are really committed to their interests. Our individual interest is secondary.
“We need your support in this process. What Nigerians need now is a president that has a team to work with. The problems are huge and we all have the qualities to lead this country.”
However, Delta Governor, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, on Monday, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was working hard to rescue the country from the hardship being meted on Nigerians by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government.
Okowa stated this at a rally at Ughelli Township Stadium where a former member of PDP, Chief Jaro Egbo and his group were received back to the party from APC.
The governor lauded youths in the state for ensuring that peace reigned across the land, saying that women and youths were so important in the politics of the state.
He also commended governorship and other aspriants for elective positions on the party’s platform for their sense of responsibility in their consultations, adding that the PDP remained one big family.
“Let me thank our brother Olorogun Jaro Egbo and his ‘High Voltage’ movement for deeming it fit to return home.
“PDP is well able to take over presidency but we have to be very strong and courageous
“Nigerians have suffered enough and they are tired; so, we must give them hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Okowa charged party faithful to go forth and convince more people to join the PDP in its quest to rescue the Nigeria from maladministration.
“We have always won in Ughelli North but they usually write results in one ward and we will not allow anybody to write results again.
“Every man with his vote must count and and I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that in 2023, we will win in all parts of Delta Central,” he stated.
Chairman of PDP in the state, Chief Kingsley Esiso, thanked the returnees for coming back home to join the party to rescue Nigeria from the grip of the APC.
He appreciated aspirants and their followers in the party for conducting themselves creditably and urged them to continue in that stead.
“Nigerians are tired of what is happening today in the country as the APC government has turned the country into poverty capital and a state of terror.
“We must chase APC out of Nigeria, we intend to chase them out of Ask Rock and Delta State will lead the charge,” Esiso stated.
Chairman , PDP Ughelli North, Kesiena Nomuoja said the Okowa administration has done a lot to develop the local government assuming that PDP will triumph across board in the 2023 general election.
Leader of the decampees, Chief Jaro Egbo thanked Governor Okowa and the leadership of the party in the state for welcoming them back.
“I have come with the good message that PDP remains the hope for all Nigerians.
“In 2015, the APC made a lot of promises to Nigerians which they didn’t fulfill instead they plunged Nigerians into further economic and security crisis.
“Now that we are back home, the PDP will start the winning for 2023 here in Ughelli North,” he stated.
The rally was attended by Governorship aspirants of the party including Deputy Governor, Kingsley Otuaro, Senator James Manager and Speaker Sheriff Oborevwori.
Others were Dr .Peter Mrakpor ,SAN, Chief Fred Majemite and Chief Bright Edejeghwro.
Also, the Former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said all Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential hopefuls from the North were working for a consensus candidate to foster desired unity in the country.
Saraki disclosed this in Asaba on Monday when he led other aspirants, including Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and former Managing Director of FSB International Bank Plc, Alhaji Mohammad Hayatu-Deen, on a consultative visit to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at Government House, Asaba.
He said that Nigeria was in dire need of competent leaders to reverse the country’s slide into poverty, insecurity and anarchy.
He stated that Nigeria was the largest economy in Africa under the PDP, but regretted that the country was now the poverty and kidnapping capital of the world under the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government.
He called on stakeholders of the party to support consensus arrangement to ensure that the party remained united and able to rescue the country from maladministration.
According to Saraki, we are here, the four of us, to discuss with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on how to build consensus for our party ahead of the presidential election.
“We had a very useful discussion with the governor; we have decided to come as four of us who are aspiring to be president on the PDP platform.
“Your Excellency, you know your reputation for the PDP and the country is always first in your mind and ever since, when there is assignment that has to do with ensuring unity of the party you have always been called upon.
“That’s why we are here to meet with you and share with you what we have been trying to do.
“The four of us have been meeting and we came up with this idea that in the interest of the party, that we should come together and look at a consensus arrangement.
“This is important because we believe that the country needs unity. We are all eminently qualified to lead this country but we believe that only one person will lead and that person needs everybody to make Nigeria better and to fix this country,” he said.
Saraki, also a former governor of Kwara, stated that the interest of the aspirants was second to that of the country, adding that “as somebody who has always shown that as well, we have come here today as our first visit to the southern part of the country.
“This also goes to show that this consensus arrangement is not just about the issue of the North but about Nigeria and to carry you along on what we intend to do.
“We have shared our thoughts with you and you have also shared your ideas with us on what we need to do and we can assure you that we are committed to this consensus process.
“This consensus is needed so that at the end of the day, PDP will be united to provide leadership for this country because the way the country is today, we need to fix it, we need to tackle the issue of insecurity and unemployment.”
Responding, Okowa thanked the visitors for coming to intimate him on their plans, and said that consensus candidacy was indeed in the best interest of the unity of the party and the country.
He underscored the importance of building consensus to solve the current challenges bedeviling the nation.
“I truly want to welcome you to Delta state. I have listened to you and the fact that you have started to meet together to think of the best way possible for us to get out of the very difficult situation we have found ourselves as a country, is very heart-warming.
“I thank you for putting yourselves together to educate the rest of us from across various states on the need for us to build a consensus.
“I believe that it will reduce acrimony and help to position us as a party in order to help to compete favourably and win the 2023 elections.
“There’s no doubt that God has favoured us and placed us in a good position to be able to win the elections but we need to also take some human actions that will enable us give strength to ourselves.
“This action that four of you have taken today is actually a step in the right direction. It will strengthen us and pull us together.
“It is my prayer that God will help you achieve this consensus that you seek to build because in that consensus, we will be united as a party, which will give a lot of hope to Nigerians, that truly, PDP is working the talk.
“So I truly want to appreciate you for this visit and urge that you work hard towards the building of this consensus and that of the party too.
“I think that this is the kind of thing that we need at the moment and as you take this step forward, may God give you the strength to be able to engage the rest of our brothers across this nation.
“We hope that at the end, we would be in a place to say yes, we have really strengthened the PDP and that we are in a better position than other political parties to compete,” Okowa stated
