AS the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State flagged off its gubernatorial campaign for the December 3 polls in the state, the question is how would the party convince the people to vote for its candidate.At the Lokoja Township Stadium at the weekend, the Governor Ibrahim Idris, deputy governor, Mr Philip Salawu, the party's governorship candidate, Capt Idris Wada and the PDP zonal Chairman in the North Central, Yusuf Ayidoko led other party chieftains to ponder the question.Among those at the rally were the Director General of the Campaign Committees, Prince Olusola Akanmode, Senator Nicholas Ugbane, Senator Dangana, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo, former Deputy Governor, Patrick Adaba, former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Salihu Ibrahim, former and incumbent members of the national and state assemblies, and members of the state executive council.And in Abuja, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, former governor, Prince Abubakar Audu said that he has been in the saddle and he has only learnt how to make things better. While presenting his plans before his supporters he promised to 'undo the rot the PDP has done.'At its rally, the PDP chieftains took turns to defend the party's quest to consolidate its hold on power in the state based on its credible performance in the last eight years. Akanmode told the gathering that the massive turnout was an indication that the party was the party to beat. Dismissing any threats from other parties, particularly Audu, he said that the PDP was the opponent in the state. In a veiled reference to those aggrieved by the outcome of the PDP primary, Akanmode said that the hand of fellowship extended to the various camps, should be grabbed as the party plans to move ahead. He said that, 'I believe that once we have solved the problem, the strategies of our opponents would have evaporated and we will be on our way to victory.' He said that the aspirants in the primary have resolved to harmonise their programmes, which would be presented to Wada to enrich his programmes.According to Akanmode the rally was 'the outcome of immense preparation we have made to ensure a smooth take off and smooth landing. We want to showcase the achievements of our party, the credentials and visions of our candidate and his running mate, as we run an issue based campaign.Akanmode said that Idris has done his best to reposition the state since 2003. He noted that PDP remained the most democratised party as it ensured that its candidates emerged through the rigours of primary unlike 'the other parties, which either imposed candidates or begged people to come and pick their tickets.'The PDP State Chairman, Mallam Hassan Salau ridiculed the achievements flaunted by the ACN candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, saying the incumbent PDP administration had surpassed Audu's achievements. Salau contended that Audu's claim that he built a standard State University was a lie as what he left behind was a glorified secondary school without personnel and structures befitting an institution worth that name. This he said made the National University Commission (NUC) to withdraw the accreditation of 75 per cent of courses offered by the institution. He said a timely intervention by the Idris administration saved the university as it also upgrading it to its present status. Salau cautioned the electorate not to succumb to the temptation of casting their votes for those people who do not have their interest at heart. He claimed that the performance of the Idris administration in the provision of roads, health care, education sector and housing would take a while to be matched.Determined to make Audu look bad, Salau said that when Idris came to power, primary school pupils took lessons under the trees, but the situation was reversed after four blocks of classrooms were built in each of the 21 councils. The incumbent, he added, has no records of uncompleted projects as the projects embarked upon by him have been completed ahead of his exit from the Government House next year.Wada described the success of the party as a challenge to anyone nursing the idea of being governor. He noted that it 'has given me renewed determination to work very hard for our party to win the coming election. It gingers me to seek an opportunity to contribute to the transformation of Kogi for the improvement of the lives of our people.'On the flag off campaign he said: 'I did not expect the people who turned out. It is not just the number; it is the quality of people who came; with very senior politicians, groups and organisations from within and outside the party, youths and women organisations showing this kind of support.'Wada, after an Abuja High Court upheld his mandate as PDP flag bearer, pleaded with other aggrieved party members to bury the hatchet and join him in the interest of the party and the state.He promised to use his experience in the private and public sectors to ensure the discipline and judicious management of limited resources. He listed agriculture, education, health care, industry, civil service, employment and human development as areas his administration would focus on if elected. He noted: 'Even in priorities, we will categorise and compartmentalise the priorities to ensure that the top priorities are attended to without having to leave any aspect unattended to.'He promised to establish industrial zones with basic infrastructure in the three senatorial districts with a view to capitalising on the abundant mineral deposits while also exploring public private partnership to jumpstart the industrial sector in order to improve on the internally generated revenue. He promised to assist the youths to redirect their energies towards positive ventures by creating an enabling environment for small and medium businesses to thrive. He assured that Kogi would rank among the fast growing economies in Nigeria.The Chairman, PDP North Central, Ayidoko who represented the party's National Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, recapped on the issue of the governorship candidate and explained that the decision to organise a fresh primary followed the elongation of the tenure of the incumbent, which nullified the primary held in January.As the PDP tries to diminish his performance and legacy in the state, Audu said, 'I have done it before differently. When I get back, it will be a complete re-enactment of what I did before and we will also try to improve on it. During my administration, Kogi was the fastest developing state in Nigeria.'When all the 36 governors were assessed, we were number one in terms of performance in various sectors, especially with regards to infrastructural provisions. Our performance is going be to more advanced.'He pledged to make the provision of jobs for the teeming youths his major priority, saying it was the only way political thuggery could be curbed.At an event in Abuja to unfold his administration's programme to his party supporters, he said that the ACN administration would, apart from developing programmes that would address youth unemployment, women empowerment, would also encourage productivity by getting the women and youth to be engaged in small scale industries.The former governor explained that the issue of women empowerment is so important and the ACN government will give special attention to this issue. He said, 'we will encourage them to form themselves into cooperative societies so that they can access some facilities that will enable them improve their trades.'As a matter of fact, we do have a blue-print for women development. Our women will be given a better deal that will usher them into buoyancy. The incoming ACN administration is ready to carry everybody along to enable them to contribute positively to the development and growth of the state.'Promising to take the state to the next level, he said, 'I have reflected on the problems that our people are confronted with and by the grace of God, we have the solutions on our hands. My administration was able to put so much on the ground for the benefit of our people despite the meager resource at our disposal then. Today they have more money but little to show comparatively.'Lamenting the high level of unemployment in the state, Audu said despite the availability of so many job opportunities for young people in the state, the PDP administration chose to only recruit them and train them as thugs. It is very unfortunate; no sensible administration will dehumanise its own people. That is what has been happening in Kogi and we are going to ensure that all these stop as soon as we come into office.'On his plans to transform the youths and make them useful to in the state, he said, 'what I am going to do is to get some of them engaged in gainful employment. We have agreements to empower over 13,000 or thereabout of the youth in the Obajana Cement Company. Apart from absorbing them, we will send our own boys abroad to expand their educational horizon. By the time they are through with their education, thuggery will become unattractive to them; political thuggery will become a thing of the past in Kogi.
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