Jonathan Will Defeat Buhari In Kebbi State – Abdullahi

The deputy director general of Kebbi State PDP governorship campaign organisation, Alhaji Abdullahi Yalwa, in this interview with Daily Trust, explains how Goodluck Jonathan will win in Kebbi.

How do you intend to achieve victory for PDP this period of postponement of the election?

We have very successful few weeks of campaign. In Kebbi, PDP was fully ready for the elections if they had not been postponed. We had achieved remarkable success in winding away the agenda of the opposition of misleading Nigerians by bringing religious sentiments just because of party affiliations.

Each candidate must be judged on his merit, capacity and track records. This is what they are trying to avoid. They know that their candidate cannot match ours because they are not of the same pedigree.

What measures have you taken to tackle the problem of destroying each other’s property, between PDP and APC in the state?

We are in a race with the people who do not believe in law and order. This idea of destroying bill boards or even attacking opponents was started by them and it has been their stock in trade in politics. Most of them were with us in PDP and these are the trades they brought from ANPP when they joined us.

We have always told our supporters not to be violent. Whoever is introducing violence in politics does not believe that the political due process will favour him. So, it is their own way of showing us they cannot match us electorally. We are happy with this, because it tells us something about them.

PDP is equally accused of using religious sentiments in politics. What’s your take on that?

Promoting religion is different from promoting bigotry. If any party, in what it can justify, gives money to the Ulama or the Christian clergy for that matter to promote and propagate peaceful co-existence in the country, I don’t see anything wrong with that.

What has Gov Dakingari done that your candidate intends to continue with?

Kebbi is the highest in production of rice in Nigeria today because of dry season agriculture. There are so many things that Dakingari has done which we believe Sarkin Yaki will build upon, improve on and take Kebbi to the desired position. We believe our opponents have nothing to offer. What they offer is what they had offered and that is not good enough for Kebbi at the point in time.

What are your plans for the teeming unemployed Kebbi youths?

The youths in Kebbi State should understand what is really happening in the state because this is also about them. They are usually used to cause crisis and intimidate others but dumped after elections. We want Sarkin Yaki to look after the affairs of the youths, give them their rightful place, make sure that all youths in Kebbi State are productive citizens who will discuss ideas.

Why is it difficult to sell PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan in Kebbi despite your confidence at the polls?

Initially, when they started this anti-democratic propaganda, PDP did not join issues with them. We don’t begrudge them. You can see why all their posters must carry Buhari. To the people of Kebbi, it looks so mischievous when a crook is put in the same composite picture with a supposed saint. People are laughing at them. You can also see that there is a turn around.

So, we have done a good job of telling the Ulamas the dangers of this kind of propaganda. We have now turned a new leaf. You will see robust campaigns for Jonathan, because we believe in all honesty Buhari is no better than Jonathan.

What strategy will you employ to get the much needed 25% vote for Jonathan in Kebbi?

Jonathan will win election in Kebbi because we have gone beyond the terrain of bigotry. We are not working towards 25% or 30% for the presidential election, we are working towards defeating Buhari here in Kebbi. This is our goal, because a PDP member is a PDP member and he stands by his candidate regardless of what they say.

What makes you think that your new campaign strategy for Jonathan will work?

Campaign for Jonathan will not be hidden and will be very aggressive. Nobody has problem with Jonathan, so we must match them word-for-word, action-by-action.

We have reached a point where we will decentralise the campaign. We will work with various groups to draw up a door-to-door campaign programme to dispel the insinuation that the opposition has taken over Kebbi because they have pasted their photos with Buhari.