From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Vice presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, on Thursday declared that other political parties were not ready for the polls.
The PDP had on Wednesday inaugurated it’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) with the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Labour Party yet to inaugurate their PCCs.
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the PDP campaign council in Abuja, Okowa charged party members to take advantage of what he described as unpreparedness of other political parties, including APC.
Okowa said the APC and other parties have continued to demonstrate their inability to put their acts together, urging his PDP faithful to overwhelm the opponents at the elections.
He said the huge lapses in the selection of vice presidential candidates by the other political parties and the delay in the constitution and inauguration of their campaign councils were indications of their pedigree and un-seriousness.
The governor congratulated members of the PCC for their selection into the council, saying that with the calibre of persons in the body, PDP would re-take government in Nigeria for the benefit of the people.
He, however, remarked that there was arduous work to be done by the PDP to attain its target of rescuing Nigeria, but stated that the task was surmountable.
Okowa urged leaders and all other members of the party to return to their Units and Wards across the country to mobilise the people, saying that the elections would be won at the grassroots.
He acknowledged that many members of the party would be angling to be on the national campaign train to move around the country, but reiterated the strength the party would exert in the electioneering ahead of the elections was in the units and wards.
“Our strength and size of our followers, as leaders, will be best tested and harnessed in our units and wards. So, I urged every leader and member of the party to return to their homes because that is where the elections will be won,” he stated.
The vice presidential candidate urged members of the North West to leverage on the ongoing mass defection of people into the PDP from other political parties, especially the APC, to strengthen the ranks of the party in the zone.
For the North East, he charged party faithful not to be discouraged or intimidated because the presidential running mate of the ruling APC was from there, and told them to be encouraged by the ‘rescue Nigeria’ mission of the PDP.
He stated that the party was faring well in the South South and the South East “and even the South West where people are thinking that we are in the minority.
“What we are going to achieve in the South West in the elections will surprise the people because we are sure of repeating what we did in Osun.”
In his remarks, Chairman of the PCC and Governor of Akwa-Ibom, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, restated the imperativeness of members of the party, especially leaders, to return to their political units and wards to market PDP and ensure that the party won all elections.
He urged members of the council to be committed to the assignment by applying themselves to it in a way that would motivate others.