Governor of Sokoto State, North-West Nigeria and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), presidential aspirant, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, rounded up his tour of South-East in Owerri on Wednesday with the people demanding for restructuring and creation of a state in the geo-political zone.
Tambuwal and his team had previously visited and held consultations with PDP leaders and delegates Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Anambra states, where the issues of erosion menace and bad roads dominated the people’s concerns.
Addressing party men and women at the state secretariat in Owerri, Tambuwal lamented that Nigeria was adrift with those currently at the helm of affairs lacking the requisite capacity to tackle the challenges of insecurity, poverty, youth unemployment, infrastructural decay and polarization of the nation along ethnic and religious lines.
He said that the failure of the Buhari-led administration to rise to the challenges of the time was understandable because, according to him, “you cannot give what you don’t have.”
Tambuwal who said that Nigeria needs a president who understands the country’s problems and not ‘a bigot and a nepotistic dictator’ who has shut his ears to the cries of the people, assured that if elected president, he would respect the calls for restructuring of the country and unity the different peoples that make up the nation.
“We are here on a mission to rescue Nigeria. You will agree with me that today, our country is highly polarized along ethnic and religious lines. We are also faced with serious security challenges, a deficit in infrastructure, poverty, unemployment and mounting foreign debts.
“The call for restructuring of this country is very loud and clear. I believe in it and if elected president, we shall work towards carrying out restructuring for the betterment of our country.
“We can do that only if we have a candidate who knows what the issues are; not a president that will be a bigot, a nepotistic dictator who would shut his ears against the cries of his people,” Tambuwal said.
He also promised that said if elected president, he would work with the south east states to remedy the situation of the roads, as well as, provide job opportunities for the youth and ensure that small scale industries in Abia and other states continue to survive and thrive.
Tambuwal promised that if elected, he would introduce policies that would improve and sustain manufacturing in the south east.
On the region’s well known ecological and environmental challenges, Tambuwal said his approach would involve a transparent deployment and utilization of the ecological fund to the states.
Imo state Chairman of the PDP, Barrister Charles Ezekwe, in his response, noted that delegates from the state had made up their minds to support a president whom they would have access to in order to air their views on issues affecting them and the nation.
“We will support you because we know that Imo state is your second home and you will not shut your door against us,” he told Tambuwal.
“If you are elected president, our appeal to you is that you should take the issue of restructuring very seriously and also give the South-East one or more states to meet up with the rest of the zones in the country,” Barrister Ezekwe added.
A former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and governorship candidate of the PDP in Imo state, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, enjoined the people of the state to support Tambuwal in his presidential aspiration, assuring that “with him as president, Imo state is covered and protected.”
