Indigenes of The Federal Capital Territory will enjoy more constitutional roles, enhanced status and fulfilment of all their demands if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wins the upcoming general election.
The pledge was made by the party’s Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar on Saturday at the PDP Presidential Campaign Rally which held at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
Addressing the mammoth crowd of part supporters Atiku lamented that indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory has suffered from neglect since the PDP exited from office. He promised to take every step including constitutional amendment to ensure that residents of FCT are given more recognition in government.
He said, “If you give us your support again, we will do more than what we did between 1999 and 2015 for the residents of Abuja. All your entitlements under the current constitution, all the appointments that belong to Abuja will be given to Abuja. You know that we have done so before and we are going to do so again.
“If what you have demanded requires constitutional review, we assure you that we shall support that constitutional review so that your aspirations are protected and guaranteed in our new constitution.
“More so, we have pledged to restructure this country, in the process of restructuring, we shall give you all that you are demanding. I want to assure you that, and I want to promise you that”.
Atiku lamented that FCT was not spared in the current insecurity ravaging different parts of the country. He said that security, revitalizing the education sector and unifying the country will be his top priority if he wins the next general election.
“Can you imagine Abuja not secured? Can you imagine Abuja the federal capitals not secured? We shall protect Abuja and secure it for your own safety.
“Of course you are aware of our five point agenda. We shall unify this country. Every part of this country will be given a sense of belonging. No part will be sidelined, no part will be marginalized. That is how to bring a sense a unity in a country like Nigeria.
“We have pledged to restore security, it is very essential that we give everybody peace: a farmer peace to go to the farm, a trader peace to trade, peace to everybody. It is only when there is peace that we can undertake our different aspirations.
“We have promised that education is key to youth development. We have the highest number of out of school children. We will make sure that these children go back to school. Not only that, we will make sure that our universities reopen forever and ever”.
National Chairman of the party, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu while addressing the crowd said that “Our suffering is rising with high cost of rice, a bag of rice is almost N50,000. Most of you will not enjoy Christmas because of the APC, we are suffering from high cost of gas, a kilogram of gas we don’t know how much now? These people who came with lies, have created so much poverty that today Nigeria is the capital of poverty in the world. That means everybody in Abuja is suffering.
“Housing construction that the PDP was doing rapidly has virtually come to a halt. The cost of building materials is so enormous. A lot of our young people are suffering, some of you are squatting, some of you are forced to return to your villages. When Atiku Abubakar comes back as the president he will continue from where he stopped. He was the vice-president in charge of the national economy under former President Obasanjo he knows what to do”.
He said that 2023 in not the time to elect an experimental president. “We don’t want a president who will come and deceive you and would not know what to do. You know we wake up one day here in Abuja and we were threatened that the whole of Abuja is going to be attacked, insecurity is affecting everybody many of you all over the country you can’t travel to your home states because the roads are blocked by bandits, the railways are blocked by bandits, the airports are attacked by bandits, we can’t run a country controlled by bandits. Return this country to the PDP and see what we will do for you”.
The Director General of the Campaign Council and Governor of Sokoto State, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal told PDP supporters at the FCT that Atiku is fit for the job and will address all the challenges residents of FCT are confronted with.
“Atiku Abubakar has experience in governance at the National level, at the federal level. He is very familiar with the issues of the FCT and I am sure, he will address all of that when he comes on stage.
“Let me reassure you that this team being led by the unifier, is prepared from day one, to provide real leadership, for the reunification, for the restructuring, re-securing and for the recovery of Nigeria from all it’s challenges”.
Chairman of the Campaign Council Gov. Udom Emmanuel, Senate Minority leader and PDP candidate in the FCT, Sen. Philip Aduda, members of PDP National Working Committee (NWC) and other party supporters were in attendance.
