Atiku Presidency’ll not discriminate against South-South – Jonathan

Atiku: South-South stagnant under Buhari

OBIORA IFOH, Abuja

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that If Atiku Abubakar wins the February 16 presidential election, the South South will no longer be discriminated against and that the zone will witness massive transformation.

Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar also said that under the present administration, South South has been stagnated but vows to ensure a rapid transformation if elected the President.

President Jonathan while addressing PDP Presidential Campaign Rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on Monday said, “He will lead Nigeria forward. He will not discriminate against you. He will not have a ratio of 97 % vs 5%. Every part of this country will be treated equally. If your son or daughter qualifies to be an IG, he will be appointed. If your son or daughter qualifies to be appointed as the Chief of Army Staff, he will be appointed. You will not be discriminated against. And that is the person that we are all supporting. He has been tested. When he was the Vice President to Olusegun Obasanjo, they did very well. They never discriminated against any part of this country. And that is why the country was relatively stable. I believe – and I am sure you all believe – that a vote for Atiku, a vote for PDP is a vote for progress.”

He said that Rivers State is total for PDP and there is nobody that can distract the people. “Rivers State has been a PDP State and we will continue to thank you for your commitment, no matter the challenges for you to be very firm to support the governor and push the agenda of the PDP.

“All of us know that from May 29, 2015 till date, the number of things that have never happened in this country have been happening. And in 2015, I did mention that the choice before Nigerians was either to move forward or backward. And within these past years, you can attest for yourself, are we going forward, backward or static?

“All the indices of development be it unemployment, poverty, health status, happiness; everything that is mentioned none of them that we have made any progress. And I believe that you all know that we cannot as a nation continue to stay where we are. And we believe very sincerely that the only person among all those who are interested now that can lead us and get us out of this quagmire that we are, is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.”

Former Vice President Atiku who praised Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike said, “I want to commend him for what he has done in this state. I have been part of this state since 1994, I have not seen a governor who has transformed this state to such a level that it can be compare with a modernized state. I have been to some part of this state through water, but now I can go to those places in car, by road. Wike did all that, roads, schools, hospital and infrastructure, Wike deserve a second term.

“If you elect PDP, which am sure you will do. If you elect Atiku, first of all you know am the author of restructuring. I will give it to Niger Delta, I will give it to all part of this country. We must restructure.

“Secondly, its is the Obasanjo/Atiku administration that started the East West high way, up till know it is not finished. It is not finished because we did not vote for PDP to continue, APC can and halted it. If you vote for PDP again we are going to finish it.

“Number 3, you see your port that does not work, does not create job. We will complete them so that we can create thousands of jobs for young men and women in the country. You have seen that APC has not done anything for you, they have not done anything for Niger Delta, they have not done anything from South South. Every development that you have got in South South, Niger Delta or River state is PDP. You road PDP, hospital PDP, water PDP. What do you want again? Please continue voting for PDP.”

PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus in Rivers said that APC leaders are becoming desperate and that the electorate must vote the party out.

“You have to vote him out. That is the only lesson he can learn so that he can go back to Daura. We were in Daura the other day and Katsina and the crowd was overwhelming.

“Buhari has no other choice, he is leaving the Villa on the 29th of May, and they are so confused because he is not aware of anything that is going on. He is not aware that he is loosing election, he is not aware that there is insecurity in our country, he is not aware that the hunger in the land is too much, he is not aware of what is happening around him. He is not aware that his DG is so corrupt that a white paper released by the Rivers state government indicted the DG and they are talking about corruption. He is not aware that the governor of Kano had to put dollar and turned to Bureau the Change in his Agbada, he is not aware.

“He is not aware of any decision, he is not aware that the National Assembly has been assaulted, he is not aware that the Chief Justice of the Federation has been suspended, he is not aware of anything. Is that the kind of President you want?”

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