Here is the speech from the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar at the Party’s 84th NEC meeting.
In a statement signed and made available to MEDIAHELM NEWS, he said;
I
find it necessary to, firstly, pay tribute to every member of our great
party, and our long-suffering people who directly bear the costs of the
cancellation of the first phase of our general elections that was to
commence on February 16th, 2019.I am sure we can all relate to the losses and burden on our citizens who travelled to various destinations for the exercise.
This is in addition to the burden on election personnel willing to sacrifice in furtherance of our democracy.
Inadequately
prepared and yet deployed to hostile centers, these personnel, like us
all, have also become victims of the potentially destructive path upon
which our country has been thrust.Nevertheless, together we
stand poised on the edge of victory, but we must not let down our guard
or lessen our resolve as we have an opponent who will stop at nothing to
retain power.Our goal is not to gain power for our own sake,
but for the people of our country who have been so hard hit by four
years of APC cluelessness and incompetence.Four years which have
seen 14 million more of our people without jobs, more of our people
killed than ever before and more of our people living in extreme poverty
than any other nation on this planet.Let us not forget that in
the last three years of the last PDP administration, Nigeria had become
the largest economy in Africa and in each of those years, we had the
fastest growth rate in our continent.And so true to our values
and commitment to chart a new path for our beloved country, our
campaigns have been issues based, offering Nigerians hope for a better
tomorrow; while demanding free, fair, transparent and credible elections
from the government.The feedback from our supporters throughout
the country confirmed their desire and willingness to entrust their
destiny to us as a viable alternative to their hopelessness.However,
it now appears that our participatory democracy which we have enjoyed
for 20yrs, which empowers our citizens to decide who leads them, is
under threat.This is worrisome, considering the great sacrifices
including the ultimate sacrifice made by many to uphold the tenets of
democracy in our country.You will recall that during the Peace
Accord process, I stated in clear terms, quoting former President
Jonathan that “my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.”Today,
I call on General Buhari, to make that same commitment to the people
whose mandate he holds, while also urging all security agencies to
uphold our constitution with an understanding that voting is a civil
activity and civic responsibility.The Nigerian military is
constitutionally responsible for protecting our national integrity and
its borders and has no role to play in the conduct of elections.Additionally,
I call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), once
again to remain impartial arbiters while ensuring that they conduct
credible elections, this time around.INEC must ensure that all
logistical challenges are addressed between now and Saturday, the 23rd,
and that all materials retrieved from the field are inspected by
participating political parties before the commencement of the
elections.My fellow Nigerians & party men and women, I am
certain that you have also keenly followed with interest, utterances
from the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) & Gen.
Buhari, which is a painful reminder of the era of dictatorship and
military rule.General @MBuhari has repeatedly violated the constitution and failed to uphold the rule of law.
Recent
instances include the unconstitutional suspension of the Chief Justice
of Nigeria, the day before he was to appoint the judges for the
electoral tribunals that will decide any appeals of whether any of our
elections were subject to manipulation.Thereby crossing the immutable line that divides the Executive from the Judiciary.
Alas,
my concerns do not end there. Only yesterday General Buhari said “the
military and police should be ruthless” and “anybody who disturbs the
voting system, will do it at the expense of his own life.”It
is quite shocking for any head of state to utter such words in a
democracy. A pre-condition for ‘free, fair and credible’ elections is
that the people are able to cast their vote without fear of violence.Elected
into office by the votes of the people in what is considered Nigeria’s
most free, fair and credible election, you owe it to our people to let
them give their verdict in the same way you were elected.If you do, history will commend you for it. If you don’t history will condemn you for it.
We
must now turn our attention to the upcoming elections this Saturday,
where the destiny of our people and country will resoundingly be
decided.In spite of last weeks’ disappointment, I urge all
Nigerians to come out and vote for the candidate of their choice,
keeping in mind our desire to build a democratic and economically viable
nation that will be respected amongst the league of democratic nations.So,
let me reassure you my friends: we are going to win these elections.
And to our long-suffering citizens, I say do not despair, our time is
now, and together we shall reshape the destiny of our beloved country.Together we can make Nigeria work again
God bless you and God bless Nigeria.
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