- Says APC’s govt of ‘associates, cronies, sycophants’ must go
- Alleges massive polls’ manipulations on Feb 25
BY LAWAN AHMED – The sound bites of the February 25th presidential and National Assembly elections continue to vibrate in Borno State with the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mohammed Jajari, vowing to unseat Governor Babagana Umara Zulum-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration come March 11 gubernatorial polls.
Alleging that the elections process was marred by massive irregularities, Jajari said the PDP is prepared to dismantle the “government of associates, cronies, and sycophants” that is currently having free reign in the North East state.
Jajari, who addressed the media at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said; “What we are witnessing in the state now is the government of associates, cronies, and sycophants that cannot take us anywhere near the expected heights of socio-economic growth and development in the State.
“We thank the people of Borno for coming out en masse to vote for the PDP in the last election. We have learned our lessons in the last election and we are assuring the good people of Borno that these flaws will be rectified.
“Today as the PDP governorship candidate, I am here to thank the good people of Borno and encourage them to have faith in the process by coming out en masse to vote again for the PDP in the upcoming 11th of March Governorship and State Assembly elections.”
However, he said having learned some bitter lessons in the last electoral outing, the PDP has put machinery in motion to address the evident flaws preparatory to taking over the reins of political leadership from the disastrous APC administration.
On the February 25 polls, the PDP flag bearer said that against all expectations, the election that had all the trappings of being free and fair was unfortunately derailed by the compromising attitude of some electoral officers and their collaborators at all levels.
According to him; “That election was supposedly free and fair election, but that was not what we witnessed. The election was flawed with a lot of irregularities, BVAS was not working, there was inflation of votes at polling units, blatant changes of results and so many other infractions committed by the ruling APC in the State.
The gubernatorial hopeful however praised the electorate in Borno for coming out en masse to vote for the PDP in the last election and appealed to them to do the same on March 11 to send the APC and its unpopular policies packing from the state.
Also reacting to speculations of quitting the race to support Governor Zulum, the PDP candidate said it is the governor who should rather step down for him having lost the people’s confidence, adding; “The people of Borno have shown that the APC administration has failed them hence they came out en masse to vote for the PDP in the last election.
“As a leader, if you notice that people are getting disenchanted with you, the best thing is to step aside. So, I expect Zulum to withdraw from the race and support the PDP instead of spreading false rumours.”
While assuring the people of better days ahead by voting for the PDP, Jajari said; “We have better programmes of which if we are given the opportunity to govern the state, the people of Borno will smile again.”
