Atiku pledges 40%, 30% positions in his government to youth, women

… Dogara challenges Northern elders to speak on insecurity

Obiora Ifoh, Abuja

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has increased the stakes of women and youths in his election, saying that he will reserve 40 percent positions to youths while 30 percent will be for women.

He further asked them that the election presents another opportunity for them to reserve their fortunes and those of their families by voting and protecting their votes against the machinations of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who are perfecting their rigging strategies daily.

The former Vice President made the commitment on Thursday in Lafia, Nassarawa State when the PDP Presidential Campaign train visited the state for a state rally.

Reminding the crowd of the benefits of casting their votes for the PDP, he said, “Again, let me make this commitment, particularly to the youth and women of this country. I have committed 40 per cent of my government to the youth, 30 per cent to the women, making total of 70 per cent.

“This is because I want you to succeed, if we don’t train you, if we don’t give you the experience you are not going to take over from us.

“When you cast your vote, wait there until they declare the result. APC wants to rig, that is why they have not been campaigning. They want to use our security services, they want to use INEC so that they can rig. This election has been won by PDP, you have won the election, so defend it, protect it, it is your right” Atiku charged the youths.

Also in his speech, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara challenges Northern elders to speak out on the recent resurgence of insecurity which has become a threat to the existent of the country.

He said, “2019 election is not about Buhari and not about Atiku, it is a referendum about insecurity and hunger in this land.

“On the issue of insecurity, all of us know what is happening at Borno, in Abuja, Kaduna, Zamfara and Katisna, even Sokoto now and even Nasarawa state, Benue and Plateau state, I cannot even mention all. It is a general problem in the country but I only mentioned the state where the situation is so endemic.

“Now the issue is this, when these things were prevalence in 2015 we heard Borno elders, where are Borno elders now? Where are the leaders of northern Nigeria, why has this problem become endemic? What are they saying? The truth is that if we don’t rise to the challenge sooner than later if things continue this way we are not going to have a country.

“So it is our responsibility to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of insecurity, because without security we cannot even understand the meaning of democracy.”He condemned the situation where the elite have become dumb and have elevated leaders to become demi-gods, a situation he described as enabler but cautioned that enabler does not develop a country.

Hear him, “Now the sad commentary about the elites in Nigeria is that we have all by our silence become enabler to those who have been unable to tackle this insecurity. Enabler don’t build a country, they only instigate or worship an individual to a position where they will compare such a person with God and non of us was built to receive worship. Any human being who accept worship will meet destruction.

“That is why we are witnessing destruction in Nigeria, because we have elevated some human beings to the status of God. And we need to rise up as a people to rescue the country from the clutches of insecurity.”The Speaker decried inability of government to quickly resolve its faceoff with University lecturers, saying that the election will pass as a referendum on education.

“Right now in Nigeria universities lecturers are on strike, if it was a decent government that is committed to the future of this country, it wouldn’t take one week to resolve this problem. Unfortunately, this problem is lingering and if we shut down education, we have shut down progress, shut down the future for our teaming youths who are gathered here. We shut down progress for this country called Nigeria.”So 2019 election is a referendum on education” Dogara stressed.

Similarly, the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus told the electorate a few cabal are hiding the President at the villa because they have nothing to present as their score card after three years of governance. He assured that Atiku is coming with a digital solution to security and other vices in the country.

He warned security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to drop the idea of rigging in favour of the APC unless they want to foment crises.He stressed that if Atiku is voted into office, he has the capacity to get Nigeria working again.

“We have come with the candidate who will provide employment for all of you, we have come with the candidate who will wipe away poverty, he has done it before, he will do it again. We have come with candidate who will provide security, because the method they are operating now is analogue, he is coming with digital architecture for Nigeria.”

The event was attended by Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustee Senator Walid Jubrin, Senate President Senator Bukola Saraki, and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nassarawa State, Hon. Davematics Ombugadu who coincidentally used the occasion to celebrate his birthday.

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