The Minister of Steel Development and Director General, Kogi State APC Governorship Campaign Council, Shaibu Abubakar Audu, has expressed optimism that his party would win the November 11 election.
Audu spoke during a rally on Saturday while addressing people of Kogi Central Senatorial District.
“This crowd gathered here today is unprecedented in the political history of Kogi State. In my years of following the politics of Kogi State, without mincing words, this is a game changer, a final nail on the aspiration of the opposition political parties in the State.
“The vision of Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo which has attracted this crowd is to provide agricultural revolution across the State, with massive crops produced across the senatorial district. We are here to pursue a Kogi agenda and not an ethnic agenda. The incoming administration will build on the legacies of Governor Yahaya Bello in massively providing infrastructure and empowerment for the people.
“The Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is interested in the revitalisation of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant. He has asked that Ajaokuta be declared an industrial park. The President is also interested in ensuring that the free trade scheme across Nigeria is reviewed so that Ajaokuta can be declared a free trade zone.”
“Once that is done, it would create massive jobs; 500,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created for our teeming youths. This is the reason the President is concerned and has said we cannot afford to outsource a critical State like Kogi State to a hostile opposition party. Kogi State will remain an APC State,” he said.
Governor Yahaya Bello described the crowd at the rally and the acceptance displayed as a show of love for the APC and appreciation of the party’s achievements under his watch.
He thanked President Bola Tinubu for his leadership, and for his unflinching support for Kogi State, adding that the party in the State would not disappoint the President and would win, landslide, in the coming election.
He said, “This unprecedented crowd is an indication that the APC has won. We have no opposition in Kogi Central and in Kogi State. We did it before, we will do it again come November 11. As an administration, we have done our best by uniting the people of the State. We met, on assumption of office, fault lines of disunity, ethnicity and injustice. But under our administration, we have been able to mend all the fault lines and Kogi State is now united.
“We have created employment. We built infrastructure. We empowered our women and youth like never before under any administration in the State since creation. We have made fairness, equity, justice our priority.”
“I can assure you that we are leaving Kogi State better than we met it for the incoming administration. Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo is a capable hand. He is competence personified. Let’s support him to build on the legacies we have created,” Governor Bello urged.
He assured the people that the elections would be violence-free, noting that the APC Governorship Candidate was not coming to learn on the job, not promoting ethnic agenda, and would hit the ground running with visible results in terms of building on the achievements of his administration.
