Text Of Press Conference By The National Publicity Secretary Of The PDP,
Olisa Metuh On The On-Going Presidential Campaign, Today, Sunday,
January 18, 2015 At The PDP National Secretariat, Abuja.
We Are Headed For Victory – PDP
Gentlemen of the Press,
As you are aware, in the last two weeks, the PDP presidential campaign
train has visited states in the South West and South East geo-political
zones of our great country.
The PDP deeply appreciates Nigerians for their support, goodwill and
prayers for our dear President and standard-bearer, President Goodluck
Jonathan. In the same vein, we wish to thank our supporters in states so
far visited for their solidarity and resounding resolution to vote for
him and all PDP candidates in the general elections
In keeping with our avowed commitment to a peaceful electoral process,
our campaigns have been orderly and on issues, devoid of unnecessary
political mudslinging and acts of desperations, especially seeing the
fact that a majority of the Nigerian voting population is with us.
As we move along, one thing is clear, Nigerians from all walks of life
identify with President Jonathan as a leader with very strong bond with
the people and their wellbeing, irrespective of religious, ethnic and
political affiliations.
Our campaigns have been greeted by the turnout of millions of Nigerians
who are eager to return our dear President to power come February 14.
I can assure you that with the support of Nigerians, we will not only
win convincingly in the entire five states of the South East but also
deal the APC a crushing defeat in South West states including Lagos
state where the popularity and acceptability of our Presidential and
governorship candidates have earned us tremendous support at the grass
roots.
As our campaign train moves to the north tomorrow, we leverage on the
goodwill we enjoy from our citizens in that region. The north remains a
stronghold of the PDP where in the last 16 years, we have enjoyed
massive support and have continued to win majority votes as a result of
our unprecedented performance in all sectors.
Our strength lies in the fact that out of the 19 states of the north,
the PDP controls 12 with solid structures, oiled over the years in all
the wards and local government areas. The capacity of our winning
machine is buoyed by the various tangible development projects that have
hugely affected the lives of ordinary Nigerians in the north, a factor
that has put us in vantage position to win back our original states of
Sokoto, Kano, Nasarawa and Kwara as well as win in Borno, Yobe and
Zamfara states.
As we go to the north, we are not just asking for votes, we are coming
loaded with verifiable achievements. For instance, in education, the
once abandoned Almajiri boys can now go to school as President Jonathan
initiated and established the Almajiri System of Education, the first of
its kind, with over 150 special schools already built across the
Northern states while others are nearing completion.
Also, out of the 14 new universities established by President Jonathan,
9 are located in the northern states thereby ensuring that all states of
the region have a federal university. This is in addition to
establishment of new secondary schools and training of teachers for
better quality education in the north.
Recognizing that agriculture is the mainstay of the northern economy,
President Jonathan ensured that out of the 2.7 million direct farm jobs
achieved by this administration, over 2 million are in the north. He
also established the e-wallet system, which eliminated the corruption in
the distribution of fertilizer and other farm inputs thereby making the
products directly accessible to millions of farmers in the region and
this has boosted their productivity. Today, our silos are brimming and
food pyramids are returning in the north.
In the last four years, President Jonathan has committed enormous
resources in tackling desertification in the region. This administration
established more than 80 km of 15– row Green Belt in addition to the
Presidential Initiative on Afforestation in Kano and 10 other Northern
States.
Furthermore, the revitalization of the railways by the Jonathan
administration has connected major cities in the north to the extent
that very soon it will become easy for Nigerians to live in states in
the north and still work in Abuja as the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge
rail is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2015.
Today, the Minna-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano narrow gauge has been rehabilitated.
The Markurdi-Lafia-Kuru-Bauchi-Gombe-Ashaka-Maiduguri, as well as the
branch line from Kafanchan to Kaduna are at completion stages and will
be operational soon.
On roads, the decades-long intractable Kano-Maiduguri highway that is
the longest stretch in the country is being successfully tackled. The
Abuja-Lokoja road, a huge death trap that has witnessed uncountable
number of accidents is now a delight for road travellers. This is just
to mention a few. There are hundreds of such gigantic road projects
going on in the region in addition to the dredging of the River Niger
from Lokoja to Baro in Niger State.
Against the backdrop of the achievements, a few of which we have just
highlighted, we are going to the north, well-equipped with our record of
performance.
Our outing in the South West and South East shows clearly that the
people of Nigeria are still with PDP and their admiration for our
flag-bearer remains unprecedented. We are hoping for even more of that
in the north.
Signed
Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary