The campaign train of President Muhammadu Buhariay hit Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, amid pomp, on Tuesday, welcome by huge crowd of Nigerians from all works of life.
At each of the two stops, the president’s message was the same: that there is valid hope for a more prosperous, more peaceful and more secure Nigeria; therefore Nigerians should not be weary in well doing.
Most importantly, President Buhari told the crowd at the two cities that he was all out for free, fair and credible elections, starting from this Saturday.
Before heading to the campaign venue in each state, the President met with traditional rulers at the secretariat complexes of the Councils of Traditional Rulers of the two states, where he told them:
“I assure you that I’m all out for free, fair and credible elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, knows my stand on this.
“Nigerians are assured of free and fair elections. Under this leadership, nobody will be allowed to intimidate other citizens. Nobody will be allowed to snatch ballot boxes and run with them. I will make sure that the votes count.”
A release issued by the president’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said Buhari “commended the introduction of the Permanent Voters Card, PVC, and Card Reader, and urged the nation to embrace the technology, arguing that without it, the sixteen years of misrule by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP would not have been brought to an end.”
“In 16 years,” the president stressed, “the PDP thought nobody could remove them from office. The introduction of the PVC and Card Reader made sure that our votes counted in 2015 and the votes of Nigerians will count in 2019.”
On the issue of security, Buhari repeated his commitment to ensure the protection of lives, property and the territorial integrity of the nation, while urging the traditional rulers to play their part as expected of them.
“The question of security begins with you,” Buhari told the royal fathers, matter-of-factly, even as he commended them for calming down the restive situation in the Niger Delta.
“Through you,” Buhari continued, “we have been able to persuade the militants to change their attitudes. I congratulate you on the roles you played that stabilized the security and the economy of the country.”
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, at the reception, commended President Buhari for his statesmanship and love for the country.
On his part, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State called for a peaceful conduct of the elections.
The Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, His Majesty Alfred Diette-Spiff, who commended the President for the appointment of Bayelsa citizens into key positions and the infrastructure projects being put in place, added that the state deserved more.
His counterpart in Rivers State, Dr. Dandeson Douglas Jaja, King Jaja of Opobo, while calling for free and fair elections, also appealed to the President to ensure that security agents remained non-partisan throughout the exercise.
