Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Senator Dalhatu Tafida - 2011 is pay back time for Niger Delta

NIGERIA'S High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Director-General of Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation, Senator Dalhatu Tafida yesterday in Ibadan, Oyo State, urged Nigerians to see the 2011 presidential bid of Goodluck Jonathan as "pay back time for the people of the Niger Delta" just as he said that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot afford to lose Oyo state to the opposition in the forthcoming elections.
While urging Governor Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala to step up dialogue with aggrieved PDP leaders in the state to ensure the party's victory at the 2011 general elections, Senator Tafida maintained that "when you talk of the South West and you don't bring in Oyo state, the equation is not complete."

Specifically, he remarked that the PDP cannot afford to lose Oyo state to the opposition, having already lost Ondo, Ekiti and lately Osun states.
To this end, Tafida urged Governor Alao-Akala to shift ground and device a means of accommodating the aggrieved PDP leaders, whom he said the party needed at all cost, so as not to lose the state to the opposition.
Senator Tafida who was in the Oyo state capital to commission 65 buses donated to the campaign organisation by Governor Alao-Akala, stressed the need for Nigerians to support the Goodluck/Sambo 2011 presidential ambition, which he described as a unifying factor in the country.  He added that Jonathan and Sambo stood for unity and development of the nation.
Tafida said:  "Niger Delta region has served and is still serving Nigeria by providing the petroleum resources which is the mainstay of the national economy.  How can we look round and say their son cannot be and should not be the president of this country?  It is pay back time for all other Nigerians.  We should pray for the Niger Delta so that they could also have a taste of the pudding."
Responding, Governor Alao-Akala assured that the recent loss of Ekiti and Osun States, formerly under the control of the ruling PDP to the rival Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN] would not pose any threat to the ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.
He emphasised that there was nothing to fear as far as the lost states and the entire South-Western region were concerned, saying that Oyo state, as the soul of South-West politics is still intact and as much as the soul is still very much active as it is now, there is no cause for alarm and I want to assure you that nobody can take Oyo state from us.
Governor Alao-Akala remarked that long before any other person declared support for the 2011 presidency of Jonathan, he had done so because of his conviction in his ability to take Nigeria to great level.  He then asserted that nothing had changed since his open support and declaration for the Jonathan/Sambo project, "except that it had been waxing stronger with the support of the party members in the state."
The campaign team later paid a courtesy call on the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Samuel Odugade Odulana in his Monatan private palace where the monarch wished President Jonathan luck in his ambition.
Oba Odulana commended President Jonathan's "humility, fear of God and respect for the rule of law", attributes, which he opined would make it possible for him to tackle the myriad of problems facing Nigeria.

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