‘I almost shed tears’ — Atiku hails turnout at Ekiti rally, vows to improve residents’ welfare

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says if elected, his administration will meet every demand of the residents in Ekiti state.

Abubakar spoke on Tuesday while addressing residents of Ekiti at the presidential rally of the party in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

The former vice-president said he nearly “shed tears of joy” when he saw the crowd at the rally.

“When I came here today, what I saw almost brought tears to my eyes. When we came here, some people said we are not going to see anybody in Ekiti. We realised what they meant was to cripple public transportation in Ado-Ekiti and the whole of Ekiti state,” he said.

“Again they did not stop there. They also caused an artificial scarcity of petroleum products so that even if you have your motorcycle or car, you will not be able to move; so that they can stop people from coming here. But you braved all their challenges. When I came into this arena, I almost shed tears of joy.

“What I can assure you is that if you vote PDP to power next month — the way you have made us happy today — we will also make you happy in Ekiti state.

“We will go out of our way to provide everything that you want us to provide. Some people are talking about the road from here to Akure — we will do it. Not only that, all the roads that connect you to other states — we shall construct them.

“Ekiti state is a centre of intellectual discourse. You have more educated people in this state than in any other state in the country. I can assure you that the PDP federal government will make use of the human capital that God has endowed you in Ekiti.

“It is your God-given gift. We shall utilise the human resources that God has given you.”

Abubakar added that women and youths in Ekiti will benefit from the fund he has planned to set aside to tackle unemployment.

“Young men and women who want to get involved in enterprises will be given loans and capital so that they can achieve their lifetime ambitions,” he added.