Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo on Monday inaugurated the State Chapter of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Committee, challenging party faithful to surpass previous records of votes garnered for the party by producing at least two million votes.
The vice-president made this call at the Goodluck-Sambo Campaign office in Kaduna where he also commissioned the newly renovated secretariat of the campaign organisation.
Sambo expressed his confidence in the ability of the state to meet this objective at the forthcoming general elections, as the party has kept faith with its promises to the State by its various meaningful policies, beneficial programmes and laudable projects.
“Kaduna state is a stronghold of the People’s Democratic Party and we have the objective of surpassing our previous record of performance by generating at least two million votes for the presidential election. I have no doubt in our ability to meet this expectation in view of the wide acceptability of the party and positive indications that greater victories await our great party the People’s Democratic Party. We have always been a popular pillar of the party and we shall prove our mettle of reliability and success again” he said
“We have kept faith with our promises to the electorate. In 2011 we sought for their mandate which they graciously and overwhelmingly gave us. We are also of the strong belief that this time around, you will once more rally round us give us your maximum support and ensure a landslide victory for our candidates at all levels in the states as the popular jingle declares: The difference between the People’s Democratic Party and others is clear.” He added
The Vice President added that the Goodluck Jonathan administration has executed laudable projects for the state in roads, rail, power, agriculture, water resources and other infrastructural facilities which included the the 40mw Gurara power plant, the 215mw thermal Power plant in Gurara, the Kaduna-Abuja Standard Gauge rail project, the Abuja-Bwari express Way linking Kaduna State to the Federal Capital and several other projects that have greatly improved socio-economic activities in the state.
Sambo added the Goodluck Jonathan administration has surpassed records of previous administrations in areas of socio-economic development particularly in the area of education where it established twelve new universities across the federation, a record that surpassed any previous administration.
The Vice President also took on the opposition on the claim that the administration’s record of the fight against corruption was poor, failure to provide security and disenfranchising the electorate.
He state stating that their administration has adopted a paradigm shift in the fight against corruption by emphasizing on prevention rather than the traditional practice of trying to cure the ailment.
“This administration has made the fight against corruption a cardinal policy. We have recorded great success in that regard through the use of multiple modern techniques. Our approach incorporates preventive strategy as a departure from the traditional approach of trying to cure an endemic ailment. In this way, we tackle every form of corruption. Our e-wallet system of fertilizer distribution, for example, has eliminated the endemic corruption in fertilizer distribution to our farmers. In the past, less than 10% of the fertilizer distributed to farmers gets to them due to corruption in the distribution chain. But today farmers can get their input direct from the government by simply using their mobile GSMs. This was made possible by developing a computer software using our young and innovative talents drawn from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry”. He said
Furthermore, the vice-president added that they had repositioned, strengthened and equipped anti-graft institutions to fight corruption in all its ramifications and had made several arrests and initiated the prosecutions of several cases in the country of recent.
On voting, the vice president stated that they had kept faith with their promise of ensuring that every vote counts.
“Our ability to ensure that we keep faith with our promise of ensuring that every vote counts is responsible for the mass distribution of the PVC cards across the federation. This was not possible in the past when results were announced even before the ballot papers reached the electorate. We have never interfered with the operations of the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). By equipping the body with all the necessary requirements for the conduct of free and fair elections, we have enhanced its independence”
On the current acts of insurgency and terrorism in the country, which the vice-president described as a global phenomenon, he gave assurance of the of the armed forces ability to defeat the forces of evil.
“Nigeria, like other nations has found itself battling terrorists insurgency which has affected some parts of the country, especially the North-East. I assure you that very soon we shall triumph over these forces of evil as government is doing everything possible to restore peace and security to the affected communities. We are procuring sophisticated arms and ammunitions to equip our Armed Forces, and boosting their training to counter this new wave of terrorism that is threatening even the most advanced nations of the world.”
Meanwhile, Sambo has called on those who took liberty for granted to desist from their incisive and provocative statements, which he said were capable of overheating the polity.
“We have come a long way in our democratic journey and gone further to provide a level-playing field as well as allowing citizens to air their views and opinions in order to enhance the freedom of speech. This is one beautiful aspect of democracy we have promoted. However, some have taken this liberty for license by embarking on provocative criticism that lack substance. Nigeria belongs to all of us and everyone here is a stakeholder in the promotion of law and order and peaceful co-existence.”
Earlier in his address, Governor Ramalan Yero of Kaduna state, who doubles as the party’s leader in the state, has called for issue-based politics and warned against acts of lawlessness which he said would be dealt with decisively. He called on the campaign organization to comb all corners of the state to course the party to victory.
He added that the People’s Democratic Party was a truly national party that has controlled the state since the past fifteen years and has achieved development in all areas surpassing previous regimes, while congratulation the president for successfully leading the nation in the last five years.
Earlier in his welcome address, chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Campaign organization, Barr Hussaini Jalo promised to deliver the state to the party.
Also the PDP Chairman in Kaduna State Abubakar Gaiya Haruna expressed the readiness of the party to commence a rigorous campaign across the state that would course the party to victory in all the positions contested for.
Various dignitaries graced the occasion which include the Senator representing the Northern senatorial zone and former governor of the state, Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Aruwa and all other party’s candidates for the 2015 general elections in the state, the Minister of Environment Mrs. Laurencia Mallam, former NNPC GMD Andrew Yakubu and several others.
