Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has urged voters in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states to troop out on Saturday to vote for the candidates of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Atiku claimed the All Progressives Congress, APC, which runs the affairs of the government had brought untold hardship and misery to Nigerians, adding that the PDP members could not engage in political apathy.
The former vice president, who made the call in a statement he personally signed yesterday, said the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to be transparent in the last general elections was not a good reason to boycott the November 11 elections.
He urged voters to turn out in large numbers as their votes were capable of defeating anti-democratic forces.
Atiku said: “Although there is a groundswell of dissatisfaction and resentment about how the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, walked back on the promise of transparency in the last general elections, but that shortcoming is not enough reason for us to give up on democracy.
“Despite our disappointments, I urge us all to derive wisdom in the immortal saying of former US President James Monroe that, ‘the best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil’.
“Our objective of defeating anti-democratic elements in our polity cannot be successful if we refuse to go out en masse to cast our ballot on Election Day.”
He appealed to the people in the three states to “come out in large numbers this Saturday to vote for the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party in those respective elections.”
Making a case for each of the candidates, Atiku said: “In Bayelsa State, Governor Duoye Diri has given a good account of himself as a leader who is directly responsible to the people.
“His giant strides in the areas of infrastructure and social development speak volumes about how his government has been able to touch the lives of the people positively.”
About former Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi State, he said he had shown “great capacity to stand on the side of the people and, by so doing, using every opportunity available to him to drive speedy development to his constituents. Electing him governor will afford him a bigger platform to do even more.”
Also in Imo State, he said the PDP candidate, former Senator, Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu has a “rich profile of a political leader who is not only in touch with the grassroots but is committed to protecting the interests of his constituents.
“Senator Anyanwu is a political leader who I believe has what it takes to take Imo State to a higher pedestal in good governance.”
He stressed that while “our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, has put forth visionary leaders whose main objective is to serve the people, it is a different story altogether with our main rival, the APC.
“In Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo, candidates flying the flags of the APC are known to be stooges of some godfathers within or outside of those states.
“The elections this Saturday are absolutely about the people. It is absolutely not about any political godfather.
“That is why it is important for the people of Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi state to come out in large numbers to vote for the PDP and to reject the APC that has brought us untold hardship and misery.
“These elections are more about the fortunes of the common people, and it is my firm belief that when the people vote and stand to protect their votes, democracy wins.
“When democracy wins, the people invariably win.”
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