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The governor of
Kano State governor and presidential candidate of the All Nigeria
Peoples party (ANPP), Ibrahim Shekarau, on Wednesday, said the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) has failed Nigerians and should be voted out of
power.

Mr. Shekarau, who
spoke at an ANPP campaign rally for the Southwest held at Mapo Hall,
Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said the Jonathan administration has no
achievements to point to in its campaigns.

“The present
government of President Goodluck Jonathan is an offshoot of that of
Late Umar Musa Yar’Adua. The government has a Seven-point agenda which
is being pursued by the present government. Let them point to one of
the seven agenda that has been fulfilled since the beginning of this
regime. It has being a period of deceit and non-fulfillment of
promises,” he said.

The Kano State
governor also said for the nation to regain its lost glory, it must
experience transformation in all key areas of her socio-political
economy, submitting that such is what the ANPP bears in mind as it
feature candidates for the next elections.

“We in the ANPP are
not just yearning for change in personalities. But change in education.
Change in healthcare provision, reliable leadership, sustainable road
network and total reformation of Nigeria,” he said.

He told the
gathering that the he and his running mate, Odigie Oyegun, are the best
combination for the country to get her to the desired state, having
done well as chief executives of their respective states.

“When we talk of
change, we know what we are talking about. It is not an abstract
change. It is not about wishes or empty promises. I and my running mate
have practically demonstrated the change when we were in government”.

Restore confidence

Mr. Shekarau promised to restore confidence in governance, saying Nigerians do not trust the PDP government.

Speaking earlier,
national chairman of the party, Ogbonaiya Onu, urged supporters of the
party to go from house to house to canvass votes, arguing that it has
the best team to serve the country.

He said the party
has demonstrated in three states where it currently has governors that
the problems plaguing the country can be solved if the right people are
put in positions of authority.

Mr. Onu also said the country needs to have free and fair election, asking for the cooperation of all to achieve this.

“If we go out and
vote, we will make rigging impossible. We will elect leaders who enjoy
the trust of their people and have their confidence,” he said.

President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday promised to run a government that will cater for the
yearning and aspirations of all Nigerians, if elected President in
April.

Mr. Jonathan told
the large crowd of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters gathered
at the Kano Polo ground to witness his campaign that he shared a lot in
common with them.

He recalled that he
came from a poor background whereby, at a point in his life, he never
envisaged that he could rise to his current position of power and
authority.

The President
promised that if voted into power, he will live by the ideals of
uplifting the downtrodden which the late political leader of Kano,
Aminu Kano worked for in his day.

“We would play
politics without bitterness, we would offer selfless service to the
people, and we would help the downtrodden because I share similar
background with you too,” Mr Jonathan said.

“I am one of those
from a poor background. If I am here today, it means there is hope for
you too. I will give hope to the young and jobless. We will unite all
Nigerians and bring peace to this country of ours.”

Mr. Jonathan, who
was delayed from mounting the rostrum for about 30 minutes due to break
down of the public address system, emphasised the need to resuscitate
the power sector.

Promising that
over-reliance on electric generators would reduce drastically in the
next four years, he assured the ecstatic crowd that small and medium
scale industries required to provide employment opportunities would
come back to life if the goal is achieved.

Underlining the
importance of agriculture to Nigerians, he promised to revive
irrigation farming, rehabilitate poor road network and ineffective rail
system to further open up windows of opportunities to Nigerians.

Happy Kwankwanso

The elated Kano
State governorship candidate of the PDP, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso expressed
delight to have Mr. Jonathan in the state. He listed the Kano Western
Bypass road project, Irrigation projects at Imawa and Kadawa and the
choice of Kano as an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) as some of the
federal government projects in the state.

Urging supporters
to vote for Mr. Jonathan and all PDP candidates, Mr. Kwankwaso, who was
governor of Kano from 1999 to 2003, described the state as a home of
PDP from 2003 to date

At the heavily
secured venue, the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Bello Haliru,
received dozens of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) decampees led by
former Director General of Kano Pilgrims board Sani Lawan Kofar Mata to
the PDP.

Among chieftains of
the PDP on Mr. Jonathan’s entourage were his Vice, Namadi Sambo and his
wife, Amina who is from Kano; former Speakers of the House of
Representatives, Salisu Buhari and Ghali Umar Na’abba; Tony Anenih,
Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman; Minister of Education
Ruqayya Ahmed Rufai and Minister of power, Nuhu Wya.

The weekly Federal
Executive Council meeting was yesterday shelved when no minister showed
up at the presidential council chambers hall, venue of the meeting.

No reasons were
given for the postponement of the meeting, but a presidency source said
it might have to do with the presidential campaign of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), which ended yesterday in Jigawa and Kano states.

The campaign tour,
which lasted for more than a month, affected the attendance of the
ministers at the weekly meeting where issues concerning governance and
the country are discussed and decisions taken.

The last two
council meetings were presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo
while the president continued his campaign. Last week’s meeting
witnessed a scanty turnout of ministers. Since the start of the
campaign, the memos discussed during the meetings have dropped to
almost zero, with the time spent at such meetings ranging from 20
minutes to one hour as against the usual two hours and more.

Over the past five
weeks, President Goodluck Jonathan and Mr. Sambo have campaigned across
the six geo political zones, with several ministers in tow.

Do your job

Mr. Jonathan had,
during the zonal tour, advised members of the cabinet not to allow the
campaign to affect their performance in their different ministries. He
also said that they could attend the campaign in their various zones or
states rather than striving to be at all of the campaign rallies.

The state tour,
which started on the 16th of February, took the president’s team to
Taraba, Plateau and Benue states in the first week; Kogi, Kwara, Niger,
Imo, Abia, Ebonyi and Anambra states in the second week; Ogun, Lagos,
Ondo, Ekiti, Osun states in the third week; and then Cross River, Akwa
Ibom, Edo, Bayelsa, Sokoto states.

The tour ended with Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano and Jigawa.

The Action Congress of Nigeria on Monday, during a town-hall meeting in Lagos, paraded before a large number of youth an array of its best candidates for the coming general elections in April.
The event had the party’s presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu and his vice, Fola Adeola, and the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, address a number of issues raised by the youth. Questions answered ranged from education to employment and job creation. Others were power, security, and resource management.
In his opening remarks, the Lagos State governor, who is seeking a re-election for another four year term, stated that the “townhall meeting demonstrates the committement of the ACN to make democracy meaningful in Nigeria.”
Decribing himself and his vice as “the new face of Nigeria that the nation has been looking for,” Nuhu Ribadu noted that the country is currently suffering from the mismanagement of its resources and he that the first thing the ACN government will do is to “stop the bleeding immediately.”
“We will produce a honest leadership that will fix this country and make a country that we will all be proud of,” Mr. Ribadu said.

Opportunity in challenges
Acccording to Mr. Fashola, the party has defined its character ahead of what he called “an uphill task to transform the remaining 32 states of Nigeria.”
“That change can only be achieved if ACN takes over at the federal level to implement a people-focused economic strategy,” he said.
The party presently controls four states in the country.
On addressing the dilapitated standard of education across the country, Mr. Fashola said his government has just recruited graduates of key subjects that students are failing and are required to make a minimum number of credits before admission into the university. He claimed the graduates have been trained to be excellent teachers, with adequate welfare provided for them.
This he describes as seeing “opportunity in challenges by creating jobs in the education and transportation sector in a bid to address the problem.” He urged the youth to be prepared for hard work, saying “the work lies in getting our hands dirty in building our country.”

Corruption, the bane of power
Speaking on power, Mr. Ribadu, the former anti-corruption czar, noted emphatically that “the reason why we do not have power is corruption,” adding that “destroy corruption, take it out, and we will give you electricity and good health.”
He also admitted that sabotage, lawlessness, and ineptitude were responsible for the failure of the ruling party to provide power, despite spending billions of dollars on the problem.
Affirming that he was there when contracts were signed to supply materials to build power stations, Mr. Ribadu noted that up till today, the materials were yet to be supplied and the contractors, who he claimed were friends of the government, are nowhere to be found.
Mr. Adeola, who spoke on the need to tackle the lack of capacity required in the power sector, stated that “within one year, we (the ACN) will achieve something” by tackling the capacity, and start producing people who can address the issue and we will start producing power.”
The former banker explained that the party will be using a long and short term approach to address the problem, as he vowed that “the short term has to be addressed as soon as possible because it is an emergency and while that is being done, the long term approach for sustainability will be worked out.”
On the issue of security, the party’s presidential candidate said there are over 12 million Nigerian graduates roaming the streets without jobs, and he noted that the provision of jobs for this unemployed multitude will reduce crime.
He also noted that to address the issue of security, the nation’s security operatives must be empowered. This was a point corroborated by all the three aspirants, who called for a change of attitude from Nigerians to the police officers who are expected to sacrifice their lives in protecting others.
The Lagos State governor also re-stated the need for each state to have its own police force, and explained that the police force could be a good avenue to create employment if the standard of the profession can be upgraded to make it attractive for young graduates to want to build a career in the force.
The candidates all enjoined the youth to collectively build a society that will make it impossible for corrupt people to survive in the society.
The town hall meeting, which kicked off late due to delayed return of the presidential candidates from Abia State, where they went for their presidential campaign, was streamed live on the internet and broadcasted live on television.