The aspirations of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar for the 2023 general elections received a huge boost today the 12th December, 2022, when over 10,000 APC members defected to the party during its presidential campaign in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital.
In continuation of its nationwide electioneering activities, the party’s campaign team had stormed Lafia, where Nigeria Students in the state, endorsed Atiku as their preferred candidate for the general elections.
The Nigerian students in the North-Central area, under the leadership of Comrade Paul Egbo, the NANS’s North-Central Coordinator, gave the PDP standard-bearer a certificate of endorsement while expressing their allegiance to the Atiku/Okowa ticket.
At the well attended event, former information minister Labaran Maku, a chieftain of the party in the state, declared that Nasarawa state is for PDP while assuring the team that PDP will sweep the state in the upcoming general elections, the Party chieftains and supporters in the state pledged their support and loyalty to the PDP.
The PDP candidate for governor in the state, Hon. David Mbugadu, asserted that Nasarawa State is PDP and urged the populace to follow in the footsteps of Oyo and Osun States, which worked incredibly hard to regain their mandates for PDP.
He bemoaned the deteriorating infrastructure in the state and urged the populace to cast a large number of PDP votes in the upcoming general elections, as the party’s win would guarantee improvements to the state’s infrastructure.
While addressing the mammoth crowd at the occasion, Atiku Abubakar (GCON), the party’s presidential candidate, thanked and hailed the Nasarawa people for their tremendous support during his speech and promised to connect Nasarawa with its neighbors through high-quality road development.
According to him, “First of all, I want to thank the Nasarawa people for their support. We will provide you with the dividend of democracy. We will provide you with healthcare facilities, you will have a quality education. We will take care of the women, and the children, we will take care of the youths, and everybody will benefit from our government. We will set aside 10 billion US dollars for small and medium-sized businesses.
“I want to use this opportunity to reiterate my commitment to make sure that our young men and women will have jobs to do when we enter into office in 2023 that is why we have set aside 10 billion US dollars so that we can pump this money into small and medium enterprises and our young men and women will have jobs to do.”
“Let me also announce that we will link up Nasarawa State with the rest of the neighboring states. “I want you, Nasarawa people to ensure that we win the state this time around. Do not allow any other party to win the state because Nasarawa is a PDP state.”
The former vice president and Wazirin Adamawa reaffirmed his commitment to empowering youths through the creation of jobs and the pledge to provide $10 billion, which will be used to support and amplify MSMEs in the nation.
The reception of over 10,000 All Progressives Congress (APC) members headed by Jafaru Toto as they defected to the PDP by the national chairman Senator Iyochia Ayu was the event’s high point, which attracted a significant number of ladies and young people.
PDP bigwigs that graced the event,, includes the Director General of the Presidential Campaign Council, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa-Ibom State, members of the National Working Committee of the party, Members of the National and State Assemblies, and other dignitaries, were present at the event. They urged the populace to work with the PDP to defeat the current administration.
