Former Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye was on Saturday absent at the Rally of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP held at Kabba.
This is just as former Governor of the State, Ibrahim Idris charged people of the Senatorial District to be steadfast and committed to the ongoing efforts to rescue Nigeria from misrule by voting Atiku Abubakar and other candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) in the coming February 25 an March 11 general elections.
Idris said the people of the district should end the widespread suffering in the country by voting Atiku and all other PDP candidates in the general elections.
He described Atiku as a detribalised Nigerian who has the experience and capacity to rescue Nigerians from pangs of hunger, poverty, insecurity and unemployment.
The former governor urged the people to eschew sentiment and allow common sense to guide them while casting their votes.
Idris said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has plunged the country into a monumental crises, saying that only tested, trusted and experienced politician like Atiku Abubakar can navigate Nigeria out of its present state of abyss.
He charged the electorate in district not to give APC the chance to win any of the elective positions, urging them to vote only the PDP candidates to make the rescue mission easier for the incoming PDP government to accomplish.
Staunch party members including a former Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Alfa Ahmed Imam, Hon. Yahaya Karaku, Hon. Victor Adoji from Kogi East were at the rally.
In his speech at the rally , the state chairman of the PDP, Mr Sam Ohutu charged party members to close ranks and approach the coming elections with determination and sole purpose of defeating the APC.
He decried the discomfort and sufferings Nigerian have been subjected to since 2015 under the APC, urging the voters in senatorial district to rise up to liberate themselves by voting all PDP candidates in the coming election.
The Chairman appealed to the people of Kogi State to help PDP back to power by voting for all its candidates contesting the election.
Ohuotu said the state is blessed with abundant solid mineral resources which can be exploited and developed to reduce poverty, create jobs and wealth for the people of the state
A Chieftain of the PDP in the state, Senator Tunde Ogbeha charged members of the party and voters in the zone to vote en masse for the party in the elections.
Ogbeha said the APC has failed woefully, saying that the party should not be rewarded with another term.
Also addressing the rally, Chief Shola Akanmode stressed the need for party members to embark upon door to door campaign for the party‘s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and other candidates of the party contesting the elections.
Akanmode, a former Deputy Chief of staff in the presidency also charged them not to give in to tribal sentiments being bandied about some elements.
He said that Nigerians are facing common problems of hunger, poverty, unemployment and insecurity irrespective of tribe and religion, urging them to vote Atiku and other candidates of the PDP to save the country from total collapse.
Former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP and one of the spokesman of Atiku Abubakar, Hon. Kola Ologbondiyan who addressed the rally in local dialect said the APC has failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians since coming to power.
Ologbondiyan said the APC has also failed to deliver on its campaign promises to Nigerians.
He said the APC promised to fight corruption, stop insurgency, provide jobs, give stable power supply, provide infrastructure but failed to deliver on any of these.
Ologbondiyan said Atiku Abubakar is most prepared for the job among those contesting the presidential election on February 25.
According to him, Atiku Abubakar, as a former Vice President knows Aso Rock Villa inside out, has the experience, knowledge , intellect and gut to lead the Nigeria out of its many troubles.
He called on Nigerians not to gamble with the future, growth and development of the country by voting for s wring person, saying Atiku Abubakar remains the Nigeria‘s best bet as its next president as from May 29, 2023.
The former PDP national spokesman also urged the voters to vote all other candidates of the party contesting the national and state assembly elections.
The Kogi West zonal Chairman of PDP, Sam Abenemi , called on party members to be resolute by voting PDP from top to bottom.
He called on them to come out in their large number to vote for the candidates of the PDP in the elections.
Abenemi further charged them to learn from Osun State governorship by hanging around after voting to ensure that their votes count.
A former Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Yomi Awoniyi while addressing the rally urged the people to end the suffering they are going in the hands of the APC government in the state by voting for PDP candidates in the coming elections.
Awoniyi urged party members to canvass votes for all the candidates of the party, saying that the APC should be stopped from doing further damage to the country.
The state PDP woman leader, Olori Margaret Orebiyi, and a former state Chairman of the party, Alhaji Hassan Salawu while addressing the rally called for a total support for all the candidates.
Hon. T.J. Yusuf and Hon. T.J. Faniyi who spoke on behalf of national assembly candidates of the party in the senatorial district promised to ensure quality representation if elected.
Yusuf is the party‘s senatorial candidate for Kogi West while Faniyi is the party‘s House of Representatives Candidate for Yagba federal constituency while Olaiya Michael Olobatoke is the candidate for Ijumu/Kabba-Bunu federal constituency, Hon. Shaba Ibrahim is the House of Representatives candidate for Lokoja/Koto federal constituency.
Both Yusuf and Faniyi also promised to deliver on their election promises and make sure that the people enjoy democratic dividends.
Highlight of the rally was the presentation of the party‘s flag to all national and house of assembly candidates of the party.
