Mimiko, Alaibe laud president
Sokoto CPC, ACN, DPP leaders join PDP
LEADERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their counterparts in some opposition political parties have begun what could be described as last minute mobilisation for President Goodluck Jonathan’s victory in the Saturday’s election.
It was a harvest of endorsement of Jonathan and defection of members of the opposition to PDP in a move to ensure victory for the president at the polls. At different parts of the country, supporters of Jonathan who is the PDP presidential candidate, urged Nigerians to vote massively for him.
In Abuja yesterday, leaders of the Labour Party (LP) directed all their members nationwide to vote en masse for President Jonathan on Saturday. And already, some opposition politicians and their supporters in Sokoto State have renounced their membership of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), ACN and the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and defected to the PDP.
In a statement signed by the chairman of LP, Dan Nwanyanwu and National Secretary, Alhaji Abdulsalami Salam and issued at the end of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja yesterday, the party cited national unity, democratic profile, the rule of law, capacity to perform and the delivery of democratic dividends as factors that influenced its decision to back Jonathan for the president.
Speaking on why the LP endorsed Jonathan, governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, lauded President Jonathan for empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct credible election.
He hinted that recent experiences have indeed shown that the will of the sitting president helps shape the character of election, adding that the body language and utterances of Jonathan portray him as a president that is not desperate for power.
He declared that going by the quality of PDP bigwigs that lost elections into the Senate and House of Representatives last Saturday, there are indications that the President can be trusted to midwife an electoral process that will guarantee the emergence of credible politicians.
The Sokoto politicians led by the former Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Alhaji Dahiru Umar Aliyu, at a press conference held under the aegis of Amalgamated Forum of Former CPC, ACN, and DPP Candidates, said the group with about 5,000 supporters were present at the event.
According to him, their main objective was to inform the Sokoto voters of the need to avoid religious sentiment in choosing a president for Nigeria come Saturday.
He said that as concerned patriots championing the cause of a better Nigeria, they were astonished by the way and manner some leaders of their former parties “without any iota of patriotism, engage the services of Islamic clerics to go to rural areas to cajole voters not to vote for a particular candidate because of his religious background. This is sad as it portends danger to our nascent democracy.”
He pointed out that being a secular state, Nigeria gives the opportunity to citizens of different faith to lead the country at different times.
He noted that there were no resentment to the ambition of the Second Republic President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari who is an indigene of the state; the late Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on the basis of religion, wondering “why at this advanced stage of our national integration as a nation some people still use religious parameters as basis for electing a leader?”
Aliyu reminded the people that there was no time the present administration prevented any Moslem from practicing his faith, adding that for the first time in the history of the country, the leader of Moslem faithful, Sultan Mohammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has been appointed the Permanent Amirul Hajj.
He called on the people of the state to reject any alliance based on ethno-religious grounds.
In a bid to clinch Benue State in the Saturday’s polls, President Jonathan has reached out to former Benue State Governor, Senator George Akume of the ACN.
Akume was said to have led other leaders of the ACN to meet with representatives of President Jonathan in Abuja on Tuesday night at an undisclosed location after they had lodged formal complaint against Benue State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Nasir Ayilara in the National Assembly elections.
President Jonathan was said to have met with Akume before the PDP primaries. The Akume-led team at the meeting, The Guardian learnt, held negotiations on the areas of possible collaboration during the Saturday’s presidential election.
The meeting with Akume’s group was held as the Freedom Party of Nigeria (FPN) threw its weight behind President Jonathan, giving five reasons for adopting him as their choice candidate.
Speaking to journalists yesterday in Abuja, the National Chairman of the party, Mr. Frank Hwofa, said the decision to adopt Jonathan was reached at the stakeholders’ forum, which was convened last week. The meeting, he said, was aimed at assessing various candidates for the presidential race.
According to him, some of the reasons for considering Jonathan as the best candidate include integrity, people-oriented policies as well as his humble disposition.
“It is important that the President to be elected should be a man of integrity, a man who has listening ears and one who is people-oriented. We have searched North, East, South and West of this country and as a party driven by ideas, we have decided to adopt Jonathan, having met these criteria.”
“We want a leader who can promote unity, who can better handle the issue of security, guarantee education for the youths, ensure food security, manage the nation’s resources and can be accepted internationally.”
While charging party stakeholders to mobilise grassroots support for Jonathan, Hwofa promised that come Saturday, the party would be able to generate 10 million voters for the president.
No wonder Buhari was crying. Even in the Caliphate, it is Sai GEJ!!! |
