In a deliberate effort to prove the popularity of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki in his home-state, a Kwara-based group is mobilising youths to a Mass Rally in solidarity with his presidential ambition on Saturday.
Speaking to newsmen on Saturday in Ilorin, the Convener of the forum, Abdulmajeed Olanrewaju Oba, said the March became necessary owing to the immense contributions of Saraki to the state as governor and senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Oba said: “It is going to be an unprecedented gathering for the celebration of Senator Bukola Saraki’s years of enviable leadership when we host the one-million-mass march around the state.
“The proposed march which will commence by 7am on September 15, 2018 at Ibrahim Taiwo Junction, just in front of Mr Biggs, in Ilorin, Kwara State.
“We recommend a dress code of black jeans and no specific colour of T-shirt to commemorate the occasion.”
Commenting on the personality of the Senate President, the youth leader who is also Patron of The Olanrewaju Oba Youth Forum (TOOYF), commended Saraki for answering the call of teeming Nigerian youths to contest for Presidency.
“Nigeria currently needs a competent and capable personality like Saraki to lead this country forward for saving the nation’s democracy through his actions and deeds during the National Assembly chambers siege, among others.
“We are thrilled by the prospect of having a leader like Senate President, Bukola Saraki as Nigeria’s President. He has all the qualities and we had thought having him will be something to be proud of. We know that with him Nigeria has a great future,” Oba emphasised.
While encouraging other politicians to emulate the leadership style of Saraki, the convener said Kwara youths are strongly behind his ideas and ideals.
“Senator Bukola Saraki has distinguished himself as a leader of the masses and as a man we can trust. We are so sure of his capabilities and he is the best candidate for the job. This is basically why we are organising the one million mass march for him.
“The manner in which Mr Saraki has been running the affairs of the upper chamber of the National Assembly was a pointer to his maturity and his ability to rule the country with a focus.”
…as Borno, Yobe PDP pledge support for Senate President
The Borno and Yobe states chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have pledged their support for the presidential aspiration of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
Delegates and other stakeholders of the party in the two states made the pledge when a delegation sent by Saraki visited them separately on Friday in Maiduguri and Damaturu.
Receiving the delegation in Maiduguri, the Borno State PDP Chairman, Alhaji Usman Ma’aji, who spoke on behalf of other stakeholders, said their support for Saraki is reciprocal to appreciate the confidence reposed in them by the Senate President by appointing one of them as Director-General of his campaign organisation.
Ma’aji said the only way to appreciate such recognition and gesture to the PDP in the state was to stand by Saraki and ensure his victory not only at the primary election level but even at the general election.
Ma’aji said: “Saraki has made us stakeholders in this project and we are committed to his victory because with our son as the arrowhead, the victory will be ours and as such we cannot afford to disappoint.
“It is the belief of PDP in Borno that with Saraki at the helm, Nigeria will witness a rapid development and growth because of his dynamism and unparalleled understanding of the art of governance.
“We recognise his leadership qualities and ability to deliver victory to the party during the forthcoming general elections, and the recognition he gave us which signalled that we will not be abandoned after victory that we resolved to give our full support for his emergence as our party’s candidate.”
Similarly, PDP delegates and stakeholders in Yobe State said their resolve to support Saraki was informed by his ability to successfully manage the Senate in spite of distractions from his political detractors.
The state Deputy Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Rahama, who represented the party chairman of the state, described Saraki as the “most outstanding among all the PDP aspirants”.
Rahama said Saraki deserved praises and support of all PDP members across the country for his ability to check the execesses of the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.
He said: “The way and manner he always emerge victorious in his numerous vindictive persecution by the Federal Government shows that Saraki is the most capable among our aspirants that will fight the APC to finish during the general elections.
“For us in Yobe, we have resolved to support an aspirant with two qualities; track leadership record and capacity to dislodge the APC, and it is only in Saraki we found these qualities, hence our total support.”
In his remarks at the two visits, the team leader, Senator Isa Hamma Misau (PDP-Bauchi), said the visit was to intimate delegates and other party stakeholders in the two states about the aspiration of the Senate President and seek for their support.
The visits, according to Misau, was to prepare ground for the Senate president to personally visit the states and explain his vision for the country to all the stakeholders for them to be able to make a right choice during the primary election.
