James Danjuma, Katsina
Nigerians have been called upon to support and vote for a credible candidate that would unite the country and tackle the myriad of socio-economic challenges bedeviling the country.
Specifically, they were called upon to support former Senate President and ex-governor of Kwara state, Dr Bukola Saraki in his bid to emerge Nigeria’s president come 2023 general elections.
Former Minister for Power and Steel, Professor Iyorwuese Hagher stated this when he led the Saraki Contact and Advocacy Council (SCAC) to meet with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates in Katsina state.
Hagher said Saraki was in many ways like the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and would build on his legacies if given the opportunity to rule the country as President.
He lamented that the All Progressive Congress-led (APC) federal government has not performed to expectation of many Nigerians, hence the need to elect credible leaders on platform of the PDP during the next general elections.
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He, therefore, called on the PDP delegates to ensure that the former Senate President emerges the party’s candidate for the 2023 Presidential election.
“I am here as a leader for Bukola Saraki for Presidency Advocacy and Campaign Council. That is what brought us here to Katsina State and we are very proud to be here and we are very happy that we were well received by leader of the party, Dr Shehu Shema, Salisu Maijigiri and all the executives, stakeholders and delegates to the PDP conversation later this year.
“Bukola Saraki is the candidate that is beyond zoning. He is the candidate for all. Nigeria is not about Bukola Saraki. It is about the kind of President that Nigeria needs after the APC has left the scene because of its very poor performance and when Nigerians have decided that they want something new.
“They want leadership or a President who is a true democrat, who is not a civilian dictator. They want a President who has ears to listen. They want a President like late President Yar’adua and that is why coming here is such a sensitive thing.
“Bukola Saraki is an extension of late President Yar’adua. We need somebody who has courage because Nigerians have suffered so badly.
“Katsina State alone has suffered more than most States in this country because your future is compromised. Loans have been taken that your great grand children will have to pay, yet, these children are not in school.
“Katsina State has the second highest number of children out of school in Nigeria at the time when APC is in government. What are they doing?
“So we are here to talk to our delegates that the best way forward for Nigeria is to have a President who will unite Nigeria not the one who has divided Nigeria to the extent that Nigerians have even started taking arms to fight one another.
“Only Saraki can wipe the tears of Nigerians because he understands what diversity means. We have suffered because people have ignored that Nigeria is a diverse country where people of different ethnic groups must live together, where people of different religions, must live together. Nigeria is for all of us not for specific or few type of people.”
On his part, the state PDP chairman, Hon. Salisu Majigiri said that all landmarks projects in the state were executed and completed by the PDP Government while in power in the state.
Majigiri said the state had been governed from 1999 to 2015 by the PDP, and that come 2023, the party would diligently work to upset the ruling APC and take back its rightful place in the state and country at large.