ABUJA- Immediate past Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has said the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 general election lies squarely on the shoulders of youthful eligible Nigerians expected to cast their ballots at the polls.
He stated this yesterday in Abuja while addressing zonal and states’ youth leaders of the party who converged in the nation’s capital for a one-day summit on youth inclusiveness in political governance.
He said: “God’s willing, PDP is coming into power in 2023. And there is no way PDP will win without those of you here in this room. The assurances some of us will give is that we will not promise what we will not do. I have had the opportunity to meet with members of the National Working Committee, NWC. And they are committed that this time around, you are not just going to work for the party. You are also going to be there to make sure that the government of PDP works functionally.
If you look at what has hindered this government, it is not lack of ideas. It is implementation. They are tired. They don’t have what it takes to make things happen. So, any government that is coming needs to have energetic and committed people like yourself, otherwise, the government will go nowhere.
“So, nobody is doing you a favour by saying you should be part of the government. It is in the interest of the nation.”
According to the former Kwara state governor, the PDP despite losing the 2019 Presidential election, gave a good account of itself, saying, “We only lost with under 5 million votes. There are over 18 million youths still unregistered. If we can register those numbers, they will vote for a government that will bring a better future for you all,” stressing that “the 2023 election is for PDP. Let’s go back and mobilize our supporters to ensure that we all register and at the end of the day, it is their votes that will get us there”.
On his part, PDP national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu urged the youth leaders to leverage the power of technology to draw members into the party.
Represented by PDP deputy national chairman (North), Umar Damagum, Ayu described youths as the opposition’s hope to unseat the All Progressives Congress, APC.
“We appeal to you to also be digital. We are in a digital age. If you mobilize your colleagues, from the wards to the local governments on phone alone, you can do a lot,” he said.
PDP National Youth Leader, Muhammed Suleiman Kadade at the event took the ruling party to the cleaners saying, “our dear country Nigeria faces imminent collapse due to unprecedented economic and security challenges. Nigeria has been named the poverty capital of the world, Nigeria ranks five places worse on the 2021 corruption perception index and the state of insecurity has reached an unacceptable proportion.
“We must not fail them, we must save this country. Yes, we must save our fatherland.
“It is very important that as we are embarking on mass mobilization of Nigerians, we should encourage those without Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, to quickly visit Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC registration centres nearest to them to get registered. It is the PVC that can empower the youths to vote out the incompetent government of APC. Therefore, all the youths must have PVCs,” he submitted.
Leave a Reply