The two leading presidential candidates in the 2015 General elections, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party and General Mohammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress yesterday at different fora in Lagos canvassed for votes.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Ikeja , the APC Vice Presidential candidate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo appealed for votes from thousands youths who had gathered to hear the manifestoes of the APC and ask questions on what the party will do differently if voted into power.
Osinbajo, a renowned professor was at his best as he reeled out the plans of the APC for Nigeria. The questions he fielded include ;practical measures to curb growing unemployment in the country, steps to be taken in fight against insurgency, how to ensure probity and accountability in government; Growing the economy amidst dwindling oil revenue and Naira devaluation among other crucial questions.
The APC Vice presidential candidate revealed that every policy of the party was linked to solving the unemployment situation in the country which he described as emergency situation.
He said, ‘APC is primarily concerned with fighting unemployment. All our policies are tied to job creation. We have emergency job plans”.
He averred that no nation can develop when about 80 percent of its graduates are without gainful employment stressing that the APC-led government will hit ground running and address the problem headlong.
Osinbajo hinted that plans were underway to established Centres for Technology and Power training in conjunction with leading global tech firms like Siemens to train graduates technical skills required in the power sector.
He former attorney General of Lagos urged his audience who were mostly in the 20’s and early 30’s to mobilize support for General Mohammadu Buhari whom he described as a beacon of hope for the country. He called on them to take the message of change to their neighbourhoods stressing that the 2015 general elections will be remarkably different from the previous elections.
Meanwhile, while Osinbajo was wooing young people for the General, President Goodluck Jonathan was at another stakeholders’ forum in Lagos appealing to Lagosians to give him another term in office.
Mr President had been a regular face in Lagos in recent weeks, last week he spent about four days in Lagos commissioning projects and meeting market , ethnic leaders and traditional rulers in a bid to renew his mandate.
At the stakeholders meeting were most of the south west PDP leaders were in attendance, Jonathan berated the APC for chanting Change mantra without following its ideals. He accused the leaders of the APC of harbouring hatred in their hearts against him and his government adding that , ‘Someone who is not loving cannot give love. You cannot give what you don’t have’.
The president said the change the APC was clamouring for would be addressed if the recommendations of the National Conference were implemented . He asked, “Is it a party that didn’t support the National Conference that will bring about change? He said he needed re-election to complete the projects he had started.
Also to demonstrate that he was not leaving anything to chance, the Presidents feted selected youths in Lagos at prestigious Eko Hotels and Suite on Sunday evening. Jonathan who decked in a sporty wears cracked jokes and fielded questions from the audience as he solicit for their votes.
He explained the efforts his government had been making to tame the ravaging Boko Haram insurgency and promised the days of darkness in Nigeria were near as reforms in the power sector will start to yield results.
Dignitaries at the last night event include top PDP bigwigs, frontline entertainers and media executives among others.
