Specifically, the President noted that Lagos State, being the commercial and industrial hub of the country, must be governed by the PDP.
Jonathan spoke on Tuesday in Ibadan, Oyo State during the commencement of his presidential campaign in the South-West.
The President said the party’s machinery would be legally deployed to ensure that the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Ade Dosumu, emerged victorious in April.
According to him, PDP leaders “will not sleep” until power was wrested from the Action Congress of Nigeria in Lagos State.
He said, “South-West is the most important zone in Nigeria. It is the most cosmopolitan zone where all Nigerians come. It is a mini Nigeria and it is very unique.
“Major commercial activities take place in Lagos and its adjoining states. We are happy that we have a strong support base here. All we can promise the people of the South-West is transparent and good governance.
“We (PDP) must take over all the states in the South-West. The zone is too important to be left in the hands of rascals. We shall take over Lagos, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states.
“It is true that we have our challenges in the zone, but we are on top of them all. We shall resolve our differences in our own way.”
Three of the four states mentioned by the President are governed by governors elected on the platform of the ACN.
They are Mr. Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti).
The fourth state, Ondo is governed by Dr. Segun Mimiko of the Labour Party.
Jonathan told the crowd at Mapo Hill that if elected in the April poll, his administration would improve the nation’s security, economy, power , employment, entertainment industry, transport and agriculture.
He recalled that his administration had injected about N500bn into the Bank of Industry to encourage job creation, adding that out of the sum, about N200bn had already been disbursed.
On transportation, the President said that his government had completed the refurbishment of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line which was started by the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He read the Riot Act to those behind the recent bombings in some parts of the country, saying the era of impunity had gone forever.
Jonathan said, “There are security challenges all over the world and our country has had its fair share. We must arrest those behind bomb blasts in our country no matter how long it will take us.
“The era of impunity is over. Security personnel are already on their trail and we shall arrest them.”
The President had while inaugurating the presidential campaign office in Abuja on Tuesday, said the PDP would win the presidency in April.
The host governor of the rally, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, in his goodwill message, said the re-election bid of the President was a foregone conclusion.
Alao-Akala recalled that Mapo Hill had played host to prominent politicians, who came to solicit for votes and won. Jonathan’s case, according to him, will not be an exception.
He said, “Alhaji Shehu Shagari was here. Chief Obasanjo and the late Umaru Yar’Adua were also here to solicit the votes of our people and they won.
“You will win. In fact, you have won the election because your case cannot be an exception.”
Alao-Akala argued that the recent sackings of some PDP governors in the zone did not reflect the potential of the PDP, maintaining that the party remained the party to beat in the country.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, who was among those that were handed PDP flags to contest the April elections, urged youths in the South-West not to waste their votes on other parties.
Also at the rally, Obasanjo said that the emergence of Jonathan as President would deepen democracy and strengthen the country’s unity.
He, however, said that nothing should be taken for granted in PDP’s bid to win the presidential election in April.
Obasanjo said, “Nothing should be taken for granted. We know we have work to do. There are areas in this country today that are crying for attention.
“The areas include security, economy, corruption and infrastructure. These areas cannot and must not be neglected. I take solace in the fact that Jonathan has gone through a period of tutelage.”
The former president also called on the party’s leadership to ensure that all members, who felt displeased by the outcome of PDP primaries, were reconciled and brought back into the party’s mainstream
The reconciliation, he added, must be from the ward to the national level.
“Democracy is about number. We need everybody; the good, the bad and the ugly. We have been behind the scene in the zone before, we are now in the mainstream and we must remain there with the rest of the country,” he added.
Highlights of the rally included the handing over of the PDP flag to some candidates in the zone.
While Alao-Akala got the flag to contest the governorship election, Adetunji Olurin and Dosunmu were given the flags to contest in Ogun and Lagos states respectively.
But the presentation of a flag to Bankole took members of the party, who thronged the venue, by surprise.
The name of the Speaker was missing on the list of successful candidates in the recently concluded primaries of the party, which was released by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday.
Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who is the South-West Coordinator of the Jonathan-Sambo Presidential Campaign , and his supporters were absent from the rally.
Also, the Senate Leader, Chief Teslim Folarin, and other members of the PDP in Oyo State, who are against the second term ambition of Alao-Akala, also boycotted the rally.
A former presidential aspirant of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Chief Harry Akande, was formerly received into the party at the rally.
Daniel, who addressed supporter at his Asoludero Residence in Sagamu, said he was prevented from attending the presidential campaign rally.
Accusing some people of ‘disorganising things’ in Ogun State, the governor said, “I pray that all the people that can make us to be annoyed may God take them away.”
He added that he was finding it difficult to understand the kind of luck that had befallen the PDP in the South-West.
He said, “I was about going to Ibadan and you came to block the way that I should not go, and I asked why. I was told the people of the state are annoyed and aggrieved.
“We have been ruling Ogun State with honesty and truth and the people of the state appreciated and commended us. But some people came and they were disorganizing things, they claimed to be God.
“I don’t know the kind of luck that has befallen PDP in the South West. People who stole from the nation are today walking free on the streets.
“In Ogun State as God liveth; we have been troubled since the past five years, they took us to court, brought EFCC and they could not do anything.”
He lamented the rejection of the list submitted to INEC by the PDP faction led by him. The governor said, “We conducted our primaries, they brought people to monitor it from Abuja, INEC, SSS, police and all witnessed it. Everything was recorded only for us to hear after about seven days that they were removing and substituting...
“Those who did not come out; those who did not know about the party and did not participate were said to have won the primaries. I promise that none of our candidates will be substituted.”
Comments