Former Vice President and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has begged the South-East leaders to prevail on their youths to end the Monday sit-at-home in the region, lamenting that it had seriously affected the economy of the country.
Atiku, who made the appeal in Enugu on Tuesday when he met with South East Stakeholders of the party, promised to resolve all their agitations if elected president in the 2023 presidential election.
The former Vice President stated that he is seeking the presidency to reunify Nigeria and improve the economy of the country, adding that he will provide efficient leadership that would grantees justice, equity and fairness to all.
He said “The last few weeks have been a difficult one for me but I know we must succeed together and win election come 2023 as my five priorities if I emerge as the president of this nation is to reunify the country, revive the economy, improve security, restructure the federation and improve human capital development.
“It’s unfortunate that our country is divided today which has never been like this so it is our responsibility to reunify our country through equity, justice and fairness to develop our country and improve our people’s lives as this will give every region in this country a sense of belonging
“We will provide efficient and good governance to protect the lives and properties of our people because without security life is meaningless and the economy will be in bad shape as investors will flee from our nation and that is why security will be a top priority for the government that I lead.
“Our task is a collective one to build a strong nation and I promise we carry everybody along. The task before us is highly demanding but we must win the election in 2023.”
He appreciated south-East leaders for their arrangement and support to ensure PDP wins the election in 2023
Atiku who lamented the poor state of Nigeria enjoined the electorates to vote for PDP in 2023 assuring he would render selfless service if elected as the President of Nigeria
He said, “The South East is close to my heart because they have supported my political career and I will always remember that as they played key roles in my life when I served as the Vice President.”
He lamented over the Monday sit at home in the south-East region which he said has affected the economy of the nation urging the elders in the zone to speak to the youth promising that all their agitation will be resolved if elected in 2023.
“We will revive our economy if voted into power because we are one country in one economy and I want to assure that we will carry South-East along because they have played key roles in the development of this nation’s economy.
“When you understand the importance of infrastructure, your focus will be to provide infrastructure, job opportunities that will better the lives of our people and we will surely do it,” he said.
He also threw his weight behind the creation of state police saying “I have been calling for this long time ago, even when I was in government I had a disagreement with my former boss and I am happy now because no party of this country is against state police.”
Also, the Vice Presidential candidate of PDP, Ifeanyi Okowa, expressed worry over the ways and manner the current APC-led government has disunited the nation saying only PDP has the capacity to restore peace and unity in Nigeria.
In his address, Adolphus Wabara, former Senate President and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP assured that South-East will deliver all votes to PDP in 2023.
The engagement meeting held at the Base Event Center Enugu, saw members of PDP including Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State who was the host of the day in the South-East and Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State who was represented by his Deputy in attendance.
Also present at the event were PDP former spokesman, Oliseh Metuh, ex-Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, the PDP Cational Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, BOT Chairman Adolphus Wabara, Senator Uche Ekwunife, all PDP governorship candidates in South East among others.
