Jonathan to start campaign in six months

Chuks Okocha  , Jaiyeola Andrews and Hamed Shittu

President Goodluck Jonathan Monday disclosed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would begin campaigns for the 2015 elections in the six months.

Jonathan Banner

Speaking when he paid homage to the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu Gambari, during his one-day visit to the state, Jonathan said with the new timetable made public for the 2015 elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he and other national officers of the PDP would return to Ilorin in six months  to campaign for the party.

He noted that while the stability of the country was non-negotiable, the PDP was the party that had ensured the stability of the country..

He noted, however that, as the 2015 general election inched closer, the era of imposition of candidates or godfatherism in the PDP was a thing of the past.

According to him, the two vices must be jettisoned to pave the way for elected representatives to serve the people diligently.

Jonathan said: “So we are here to ginger our members. Also to use that opportunity to tell others that they need to join PDP because I believe it will not be less than six months we may probably come back or between six and eight months depending on how the party decides.

“I don’t know if Adamu Mu’azu has come up with timetable for our congresses. So we don’t know but we would come back shortly to really introduce people we believe would be used for various elections and of course we would also ask you to convey our own messages to others.

”But today, we are at your emirate and it will not be fair just to move down to the square that we want to use without reporting to you because you are a father to all and you have been a father to us, you have given us your blessings before and your blessings have manifested in very big successes.And we believe that you still use your position to bring all your children together for the interest of this great state and for the interest of our dear country.”

Earlier in his palace, the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sule Gambari thanked the president for the homage paid to him. He said Ilorin is a peaceful town and cannot afford to be hostile, saying the emirate is a home for all.

”We thank God for your anscension and transition that has been quiet and peaceful. I pray that whatever you have to come again to do, you come peacefully as you have done in the past,” he said.

Speaking later in the day before a crowd at a PDP rally at the Ilorin Metropolitan Square, tagged “Unity/ Freedom Rally” where he received some defectors from other parties, the president noted that all stakeholders in the party irrespective of his or her status, would be given free hand to serve the people without being hindered from any quarters.

He said: “PDP is not for any dictator because it encompasses all Nigerians irrespective of his or her status and also have every voting units across the country. PDP is not for individual, it is not for dictator. There is no more godfatherism and no more imposition in the party in order to allow the people to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

Those who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the ruling PDP were Senator Gbemisola Saraki and other five former top-notch the APC including the former interim state Caretaker Chairman of APC, Rev. Bunmi Olusona and governorship aspirant, Alhaji Mohammed Belgore (SAN).

Other top politicians who returned to the party included Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, son of the former Kwara State governor, Alhaji Hakeem Lawal and a senatorial candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Bilkisu Gambari.

The president who received the returnees, expressed delight at the tumultuous crowd that gathered at the square, adding that “by this, there is no doubt that Kwara State is PDP.”

According to the President, “the number of PDP supporters at the rally have stunned bookmakers and this shows clearly that there is no APC in Kwara.”

He described the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu as the game-changer, whose experience and humility has proved he is “a game changer.”

He said the secret behind the return of top politicians who had dumped the opposition party was because “it is only PDP among all the political parties, that give people freedom.”

Mu’azu boasted that what was happening in PDP was pay back for APC whom he had warned “were teaching us how to poach.”

Insisting that PDP remains the best choice, the PDP chairman noted that the party remains the only party that practices true democratic tenets irrespective of tribal, religious, age and other affiliations.

He reminded Kwara people how President Jonathan provided innumerable dividends of democracy in all facets including agriculture, transportation, education and aviation.

“Those of you who decided to switch party, I want to tell you that the people of Kwara State have decided that today is their day of freedom, therefore, no shaking.

“Remember I told APC that they have been poaching and poaching our members and I told them I am a good student and so, we have started doing what they thought us.”

The Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih and the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio, explained that their return was clear demonstration that Kwara people have regained their freedom.

“PDP is very happy with you. What you have done today is a great liberation for Kwara people; Kwara State needs liberation; Kwara State needs a change.

“The monumental progresses you have seen in Kwara were all done by PDP. The opposition did not do it.  You are going to give us another governor in Kwara in 2015,” they stressed.

Akpabio described the defection of Senator Bukola Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed as “donating the mandate of Kwara people to the opposition.

“We have come to tell you that you are not alone, nobody can take or donate your mandate to people who didn’t work for it.

“We shall take whatever steps that are legally possible and even go spiritual by praying to God to liberate Kwara people who as we can see, are anxious to be free and they have liberated themselves.” he stressed.

Senate President, Senator David Mark, said the turnout was a clear message to the APC whom he noted were clearly jittery. He pleaded with the party members to accept Saraki and Ahmed if they returned and there was a thunderous rejection by the party supporters.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo and the Chairman of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Hon. Solomon Edojah, eulogised Jonathan’s political strides, especially in the education sector with particular reference to the establishment of Almajiri schools in the North.

Jonathan who spoke when he paid homage to Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu Gambari, said: “We believe the stability of this country is paramount, we believe that the party that can rule this country should be the party that has tentacles across the country, and should not be a party that is owned by one person or a group of persons.

“A party that anybody from nowhere can come up and become something just like me, from no where. It is only a place like PDP that such people can have the opportunity of breathing fresh air. So we are in Kwara State for that. We are not here for campaign,” he said.

He thanked the Emir for the reception given him and his entourage, stressing that he had visited the state and such visits had been for positive reasons.

“I can’t remember the number of times and I am quite pleased that I have never been to Ilorin for something that is negative, it’s always for something that is positive.

“I have to sincerely thank your royal highness and other royal fathers, and indeed our leaders from this great state for maintaining peace,” the President said.

According to him, Kwara State is central and if there is any crisis in the state it permeates easily to the rest of the country.

Jonathan said Kwara State had been very peaceful because its people, the royal highness, other traditional rulers, leaders and of course supported by government agencies had been working day and night to ensure peace.

He therefore thanked the people for their efforts to maintain peace in the state. He told the Emir that he was not in Ilorin for campaign, but for his party’s rally, to ginger its members, as well as formally receive those who de-camped from other parties

to PDP.

The President said since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had come up with the programme for 2015 elections, he would soon return to Ilorin to campaign for his party.

“So we are here to ginger our members. Also to use that opportunity to tell others that they need to join PDP. I believe it will not be less than six months we may probably come back or between six and eight months depending on the party. I don’t know what date Mua’zu has fixed for our congresses.

“We don’t know, but we would come back shortly to really introduce to you people we believe would be used for various elections and of course we would also ask you to convey our own messages to others.

“We are at your emirate today (yesterday) and it will not be fair just to move down to the square, venue for the rally without reporting to you because you are a father to all and you have been a father to us, you have given us your blessings before and your blessings have manifested in very big successes.

“And we believe in your position, you still use your position to bring all your children together for the interest of this great state and for the interest of our dear country,” the President emphasised. (0)

Jonathan to start campaign in six months