You gain some, you lose some.
That appears to be the experience of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party in Sokoto state as the APC lost an estimated 500 members to the rival PDP in Gwadabawa council area, while the APC gained 3,400 members of the PDP in Bodinga council.
Gov. Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State on Monday received the new members of APC in Bodinga town in the course of the governorship campaign.
Among them were Alhaji Tshoho Dangaladima, PDP candidate for the House of Representatives and Yusuf Marafa, candidate for the Sokoto State House of Assembly.
Addressing APC supporters at the rally, the governor said that the party would meet the expectations of Nigerians by addressing their yearnings and aspirations through good governance.
He said that the APC- led administration would address the issues of security, health and education, among others.
Wamakko also directed the immediate release of over 3,000 irrigation machines for distribution to farmers free of charge in the area, adding that the gesture would boost irrigation farming in the area.
He said that the state government would continue to accord priority attention to the agricultural sector in order to ensure massive food
production.
” We have all that it takes to better the lots of Nigerians, but lack of committed leaders was responsible for our set back,” Wamakko said.
The governor called on the defectors to feel at home as, ’’ there is no new members and old members in the party’’.
Wamakko tasked the APC candidates in Bodinga local government area to work jointly with the defectors for massive grassroots’ mobilisation ahead of the elections.
” You must carry along the people in ensuring total victory of our candidates seeking elective offices, ” he said.
In his remarks, Alhaji Aminu Tambuawal, Speaker of the House of Representatives and APC gubernatorial candidate in the state, tasked the members of the party to obtain the permanent voter cards.
” If you are yet to acquire the permanent voter card, better do so right away as it will ensure the victory of all our candidates,” he
said.
Tambuwal also urged them to shun all kinds violence before, during and after the elections.
Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, the Director-General of the APC campaign organisation in the state, called for political maturity among politicians in the state, adding that political tolerance and understanding were vital in ensuring peaceful conduct of the elections.
He called on candidates of the party to embark on house-to-house campaigns for the overall success of the party in the Feb. 14 and Feb. 28 elections.
In Gwadawaba, no fewer than 500 members of the APC switched allegiance to the PDP, also on Monday.
The new party members were received by Sokoto State Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Ibrahim Milgoma during the party’s gubernatorial rally in the area.
Milgoma called on the people to vote for PDP at all levels and said that supporters of the party nationwide were always loyal.
The chairman urged them to shun violence and ’’ maintain and endure the criticisms of opposition supporters for peace to reign during and after the conduct of the 2015 general elections.’’
The PDP gubernatorial Candidate of PDP, Sen. Abdallah Wali, promised to boost the state’s health, education, agriculture and youth empowerment sectors if voted into office.
Wali said ‘ the only way to succeed is by addressing the cause of poverty which is unemployment and corruption in the state.
“Our administration has planned possible and durable ways of tackling the challenges of poverty, unemployment and economic development, if voted into office.
“Our hope in the state and the nation is to provide plausible solutions for the societal under-development and the fight corruption ,’’ Wali, promised.
He thanked the people of Gwadabawa Local Government Area for their loyalty and support to PDP and welcomed the defectors into the PDP family.
Wali described the defection of the former APC members to PDP as a great achievement and promised to ensure justice and equality among all members of the party, if elected.
He further called on the party members to accept the defectors in good faith to ensure that PDP became stronger and united toward the elections.
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