A Chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a staunch supporter of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, in Oyo state, Engr Femi Babalola Jogor has declared that the decision of G5-Governors on Atiku cannot hold water in the state, saying that with the efforts he and others have put in place in the state, Atiku will win convincingly in Oyo state and the country as whole.
He stated this on Monday during an interview with some journalists in the state to shed more light on the preparedness of Atiku’s loyalists and supporters in the state ahead of the February 25 presidential election.
It could be recalled that Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, is a member of the five aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Governors tagged G5-Governors, who refused to be part of the campaign of their Party’s Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and who have also made it known that they will not support him during the presidential election.
To allay the fear that Makinde’s stand against Atiku may affect his chances in Oyo State during the election, while expressing confidence that Atiku will win convincingly in the state and general election, Jogor affirmed that the level of work he and other chieftains of the party, who are loyal to Atiku’s cause have done in the state, the threat of G-5 governors cannot affect Atiku’s victory.
He cited what happened during the launching of the Makinde’s Second term campaign recently at Mapo Ibadan where PDP supporters booed the G5- Governors, when Nyesom Wike of Rivers State said Makinde will tell them who to vote for during the presidential election, to buttress his confidence that Atiku will do well in the election in Oyo State.
Jogor also referred to the turn out of party members, loyalists and Atiku’s lover during the ‘Freedom Walk’ which, he co-organised with other party chieftains like Elder Wole Oyelese, Hazeem Gbolarumi, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide, Professor Abiodun Raufu and others for Atiku as another sign of Atiku’s acceptability in the state.
He also disclosed that in few days time, he will be meeting with various professional bodies such as Chamber of Commerce and Industry, artisans and others to solicit their support for the emergence of Abubakar Atiku in Oyo state.
According to him, “I can assure you that, with efforts we have put in place so far and the ongoing ones, Makinde’s stand will not affect the fortunes of Abubakar Atiku in Oyo state, which have been displayed severally. People came out enmasse, party members came out and they were chanting Atiku! Atiku! Atiku! And they said that is the person they wanted in the presence of G5-Governors.
“Atiku will win, members know their own, no matter what. The freedom walk was excellent in turn out, the stance of party members in the presence of G-5 was also another sign of victory in Oyo state. We are leaving no stone unturned, we are working assiduously to compliment already established acceptability of Atiku in the state”.
On the capability of Atiku to govern the country well, Jogor said the country is lost in the moon and that Atiku who has been at the presidency before as Vice President for eight years is needed now to bring the country back to its foot.
“It is like Nigeria is lost somewhere in the moon. When you say something is in the trenches, you know where it is. The state at which we are now is that we don’t know where the country is.
“As far as I am concerned, we need Atiku, who has done this before. Of all those contesting, he is the one who has done it before. He has been the Vice-President for eight years. He has seen it all. That is the kind of person we need now. We don’t need a learner. We don’t need someone that will come in and learn on the job. Someone who will say give me the first two years to settle down, I want to take my time and see what is going on in this villa.
“No. State politics and regional politics are different from National politics. National governance is different from state or regional governance. I stand by Atiku. He is qualified. He is competent. He has done it before.
“If you look at it again, he is one man that identifies talents. Atiku brought 90% of all the people that worked with Obasanjo during his tenure.
“He is just a very humble guy who doesn’t talk. He probably doesn’t fly his achievements around. He was the man behind so many of the people that helped Obasanjo as President to achieve results.
“Don’t forget that at some point the governors had to go and beg him to take over from Obasanjo. If he wanted to, he had the structure in his hands in 2003. He didn’t.
“I believe that the Yorubas owe Atiku in 2023, if he was a greedy man, if he was an over ambitious man, he would have been the President in 2003. So Yoruba owe him.
“Two, in 1991, I was there in Jos. He was one of the guys that was asked to step down for Abiola. So, we owe him. Yorubas owe him. If he had contested with Abiola maybe something else would have happened. So, I believe we owe him from the South-West”.
