We Need Electoral Victory to Get Nigeria Working Again Remarks by Atiku Abubakar, GCON, former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at the Inauguration of his Presidential Campaign Council, at the PDP Legacy House, Maitama, Abuja.
Thursday 29 November, 2018.
Protocol
I welcome all of you to this formal inauguration of my Presidential Campaign Council. This is the team that will work with me to lead our party, the PDP, to victory in the Presidential Election scheduled for February 2019.
I congratulate all of the members of this Council and I thank you immensely for agreeing to be part of this team. You have been selected because of your immense stature, talent, skills, experience and contributions to the success of our party and our candidates over the years.
We have tried to put in place a campaign structure that will ensure uniformity in our operations. Of course, states can set up structures that address local peculiarities. However there will be no parallel structures so we can avoid confusion in our activities and our messaging. We must run a disciplined campaign that stays on message all the time.
We are facing an APC government that is desperate to cling to power at all costs, which means that this will be a tough Presidential election. Therefore we must run a focused campaign that takes nothing for granted. We must maintain eternal vigilance. It is no surprise that the government is running a campaign of personal attacks and innuendo. This is because it has failed to keep its promises to the Nigerian electorate. Having little to point to as its achievements in nearly four years in office it wants to distract the attention of our people by choosing personal attacks over issues.
A government that has been in power for nearly its full term should be campaigning on its achievements, its record, rather than personal attacks and fresh promises it obviously will not keep.
I made clear from the beginning of this journey that my campaign will be focused on issues rather than personal attacks. Therefore I enjoin you to ensure that our campaign is issue-based. Nigerians know that the APC government has failed woefully. We have to continue to remind our people of that and also tell them what we will do differently to get Nigeria working again.
I call on the leadership of our party, the PDP, to ensure that enlightened and well-trained menand women are hired as our agents at the polling stations and collation centres. It should also ensure the establishment of a functional and effective Situation Room to monitor the campaigns and the electoral process itself until the last vote is counted and the results announced. It should also address any other issues that would ensure free, fair and credible elections. As members of the Campaign Council you have the responsibility of working with the party leadership to ensure that these are implemented in a timely manner.
Ladies and gentlemen, elections are governed by laws. While it is customary to ask politicians to conduct themselves well, good laws are required to ensure credible elections. Such laws constrain the behaviour of all who are involved in the electoral process, including the candidates and their supporters, security agents and the electoral umpire (in this case the INEC). Therefore, I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to sign into law, without further delay, the Electoral Act amendment which is on his desk, if he is really interested in the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.
My dear friends, we have a lot of work to do. Let’s get to work. We’ve got to get Nigeria working again.
Once more thank you for being part of this team, and I thank you all for your attention.
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