-By Albert OGRAKA:
Blank NEWS Online can authoritatively reveal that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leading presidential aspirant in the forthcoming 2019 elections and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s visit to Delta state on Tuesday, July 26, 2018 in continuation of his consultations has further strengthened his general acceptance by Nigerians, following his insistence that there must be restructuring for Nigeria to make progress.
Atiku’s quest to contest against incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, sole candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in next year’s presidential election has also renewed Nigerians hope that the subsisting insecurity and poverty which has ravaged the country would be a thing of the past once the main opposition party, PDP clinches power.
Atiku, a former Vice President to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, had told the PDP delegates and the mammoth crowd of supporters who accorded him a heroic reception in Asaba that his vision to reposition the country would be realised on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if he secures the presidential ticket for the 2019 elections.
Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa:
Delta state governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who conducted the most successful non-elective party national convention in Nigeria, commended him for engaging in consultation visit, assuring that delegates to the Presidential Primaries of the PDP will make their decisions based on acceptability, reach, experience and level of intelligence of the individual aspirants.
He maintained that the former vice president spoke in ways that aroused the interest of the people in the state; more so, when he identified himself as a friend of the state. He remarked that he cannot interrupt the people’s choice, in any way; and if Atiku is the choice of the people of Delta State, so be it.
“I made my statement which was clear and cautious.
“If you followed us properly, you will discover that when he talked to Deltans, he made a lot of statements which did interest our people, and he has said he is a friend of the state.
“He talked about restructuring and the rest. And if his programme continues to interest the people, I will not be able to hold back the hands of the people. I am not going to force any delegate to the national convention to vote the way Okowa thinks or feels.
“They will be allowed to exercise their discretion and their votes.
“As governor, I don’t want to directly support any candidate, but the will of the people will be allowed to be, but if anything happens that I have to give guidance, I will never force the people to vote against their will.”
Bashorun Askia Ogieh:
Bashorun Askia Ogieh is one of the foremost PDP chieftains in Delta state. He believes that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has blazed the trail by endearing himself to Deltans and Nigerians.
“What he has done is the right thing. You need to consult with relevant stakeholders as you move on. It shows that he is serious. It shows his ability to carry the people along and to feel the pulse of the various state delegates as he moves on into the main contest. It shows his preparedness. He is not just waiting for him to be adopted. He is working hard for it and selling himself and his credentials and precedents and using the opportunity to tell the delegates what he can do better than every other aspirants and indeed what he can do better than the government of the day because in all of these, we are looking for a strong candidate. Someone that can deliver us, deliver the party to Aso Rock.
“Before he threw his bat into the ring, he has promised restructuring and has been hammering on it and we believe. That is the right way to go. In addition he told us that the Niger Delta Ministry is better situated in the Niger Delta Region so that the people can feel the impact. They can know what’s going on because they are too comfortable in Abuja there….and that is the right way to go.
“We are not happy that we have left there in the past three years and more so we are not happy that the country have slide into a very serious situation, especially the genocide that is happening in the far Northern states but more worrisome is that of the Middle Belt where we have the food basket. And the religious undertone that is coming in, the massacre of the people is something that we are not happy about.”
