Jonathan will beat Buhari in the north, says PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is certain that President Goodluck Jonathan, its presidential candidate, will beat Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), fair and square in the north, in the February 14 presidential election.

The party also claimed that with President Jonathan’s soaring popularity among the voting population across the country, he would win more than two-thirds of the total votes cast as well as the required 25 percent in all the states of the federation.

“President Jonathan will beat Buhari in the north not only because the PDP controls 12 out of the 19 states of the region but also because the citizens are pleased with the numerous development projects he executed in the region,” Olisa Metuh, spokesman of the PDP, in a said in a statement on Saturday.

The party further said that the various projects and appointments in the north had placed the president ahead of his opponent.

“Indeed, Nigerians in the north are eager to re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan come February 14, 2015. Voters in the region appreciate the direct positive impact of the numerous development projects executed by the Jonathan administration in all sectors of life,” Metuh said.

“They appreciate the fact that recognizing that agriculture is the mainstay of the northern economy, President Jonathan ensured that out of the 2.7 million direct farm jobs achieved by his administration, over 2 million are in the north.

“They appreciate the fact that President Jonathan established the e-wallet system, which eliminated the corruption in the distribution of fertilizer and other farmputs, making the products directly accessible to millions of farmers in the region thereby boosting their productivity. They appreciate the fact that silos are brimming and food pyramids are returning in the north.

“In education, President Jonathan’s imprint in the north remains indelible. Today, the once relegated Almajiri boys can now go to school following the establishment of the Almajiri System of Education, the first of its kind, with over 150 special schools already built, while others are nearing completion, a noble idea General Buhari never thought of when he was head of state.

“Also, out of the 14 new universities established by President Jonathan, nine are located in the northern states, thereby ensuring that all states of the region have a federal university. This is in addition to the establishment of new secondary schools and training of teachers for
quality education in the region.

“Furthermore, our citizens in the north are happy with President Jonathan for his efforts in tackling desertification in the region especially with the establish of more than 80 km of 15-row Green Belt in addition to the Presidential Initiative on Afforestation in Kano and 10 other
northern states.”

The PDP also recalled the increased attention to the health need of the area, especially the interventions towards polio eradication and treatment of VVF among others.

Noting that President Jonathan had indeed repositioned the region for prosperity, the party pointed out that the north stood to benefit immensely from the revitalisation of the railways, especially the rehabilitation of the Minna-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano narrow gauge, the Markurdi-Lafia-Kuru-Bauchi-Gombe-Ashaka-Maiduguri line and the branch line from Kafanchan to Kaduna, which are expected to increase productivity in the region.

It also stated that roads in the region had received attention under Jonathan, citing the decades-long intractable Kano-Maiduguri highway, the longest stretch in the country, which is now
being successfully tackled in addition to the Abuja-Lokoja road, which
is now a delight for road travellers.

Arguing that there were hundreds of such gigantic road projects going on in the region, PDP said that the dredging of the River Niger from Lokoja to Baro in Niger state had also contributed in placing the north on a sure path to economic prosperity.

The party also cited the acceleration of work on the Geregu power station, the 700MW Zungeru hydro-power, the ‎3,050MW Mambilla hydro-power among others in addition to various dam projects including the Kashimbila multipurpose dam, which is being built to contain flood from Lake Nyos in Cameroon.

It insisted that Nigerians in the north were mindful of the fact that their collective interest and aspiration were better protected under Jonathan, hence the support and eagerness to re-elect him in February 14.