Ahead of Saturday’s governorship poll in Kogi state, former vice president Atiku Abubakar has called on the people of the state to vote for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dino Melaye.
Atiku advised the voters to shun ethnic and primordial sentiment and vote wisely for the candidate who shared their pains and explicitly understood their yearnings and aspirations.
The former PDP presidential candidate spoke on Thursday, November 9, at the Grand finale of the party campaign rally held at the state secretariat, Lokoja, the state capital.
Atiku said that only a masses-friendly politician like Melaye can bring genuinely desired development to the Kogi state and give succour to the people of the state.
He berated the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello for allegedly denying PDP the use of the stadium for the campaign rally, saying it was time to sack the ruling APC to put an end to the alleged reign of terror and maladministration in the state.
He said: “They denied us the use of the stadium in Osun State and we later used the party office for our rally. In the end, the PDP sacked them from the government house. Now they denied us the use of the Confluence Stadium Lokoja and booked all the hotels just to stop us from coming here. Despite what they did, you all still came to the party secretariat to show solidarity and support for Senator Dino Melaye.”
According to him, the emergence of Dino Melaye as governor will bring about good governance and development in Kogi state.
He added: “Dino is committed, courageous and well-focused. He doesn’t kill people like what the present administration is doing in Kogi State. I am appealing to you for the sake of Kogi state come out en mass and vote for PDP.
“I assure you of your safety, this is a very great opportunity to free yourselves from the shackles of oppression and poverty. I hope you will not disappoint me.”
Addressing a crowd of supporters, the PDP governorship candidate, promised to govern the people of Kogi state with the fear of God and make it epicentre of development.
He promised to improve the internally generated revenue through tourism and create jobs for the jobless youths through industrialization and exploration of the vast mineral deposits in the state.
He said: “Out of the 18 governorship candidates vying for the position of Governor, I am the most educated, experienced, and exposed. It is now time to put an end to percentage salaries, corruption, retrenchment, and non-payment of pensions in Kogi State.
“Every Civil Servant was unjustly sacked by Yahaya Bello. Within three months we shall reinstate them all. Don’t vote for any small political party that does not have a political fallopian tube.
“I want the world to note that the present Government in Kogi blocked all the venues for us to hold this rally. Our people coming from Kogi East were stopped and are being shot by those loyal to this government. Despite what they did, our supporters still came here because they were tired of Governor Bello’s tyranny.”