- PDP dead, buried
Agagu Madugba, Katsina
Apparently overwhelmed by a mammoth crowd of the All Progressives Congress (APC) members who converged on Katsina on Saturday, the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, affirmed that it was an indication of President Muhammadu Buhari’s popularity among the Nigerian people.
For several hours beginning from yesterday morning, the entire Katsina metropolis was virtually locked down during the APC rally at the Polo Ground to welcome new members, majority of who defected from People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
“I will go back to Abuja, feeling confident that Nigerians approve of President Buhari,” Oyegun said, adding that, “despite all the distractions, we have a President who remains focused, single minded and continues to forge ahead with his developmental programmes for the people.
“You invited me to come and receive decampees into our party, not to a presidential rally. But what I have seen here; the crowd that I have seen here today is indeed for that of presidential rally.
“What I see here is a sign of approval. It is a sign that you approve of your Governor, Aminu Masari. It is a sign that this is a state of our dear President Muhammadu Buhari. It is a sign that you approve of President Buhari’s programmes and activities.”
He said that the Buhari-led Federal Government had made significant improvement on what it met on ground in 2015.
As Oyegun put it, “I can confirm to you today that we are almost self-sufficient in rice production. Government is constructing 5,000 kilometres of railroad across the country, and has improved on electricity generation from 3,000 to 7,000 megawatts.
“The Mambila power project is coming on and there are seven other power projects on the way.”
Pronouncing the PDP dead in Katsina, Oyegun congratulated the decampees for joining the APC.
“We have among the decampees, former Speaker of PDP in Katsina, a distinguished Senator, Senator Ibrahim Idah, and many notable personalities. From what I have seen and with the power conferred on me, I hereby declare PDP in Katsina state dead and buried,” Oyegun said.
In his speech, Governor Masari insisted that Buhari would get about 90 per cent votes from the state during the scheduled 2019 presidential polls.
As Masari put it, “the decampees here today have made their names in their various endeavours. I assure you of a level playing field.”
To the National Chairman, the crowd you have seen today is just a tip off iceberg. Katsina is Buhari and Buhari is Katsina. We are working towards realizing that 90 per cent of those who are going to vote in the next general election in the state would vote for President Buhari and the APC.”
The Katsina APC estimates that a total of about 300,000 new members joined the party from the other political parties, from across the 34 local government areas.