From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
A South East-based political support group, Committee of Friends G5 South East Zone, has concluded plans to deliver one million votes for the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in Abia State.
The group said it will lobby stakeholders and influencers in order to have a strong grip of states and communities in South East, preparatory for the 2023 general election.
Coordinator of the group, Chinyere Chigbu, in a statement, yesterday, explained that the Committee of Friends G5 South East Zone was determined to ensure Atiku wins not only Abia but the entire South Eastern states.
He recalled that in 2019 presidential election, the PDP scored 219,698 votes in Abia State, which, according to him, was abysmal considering the over 1,932,892 eligible voters who could have voted to sway the election in favour of Atiku.
“To this end, our sensitisation and campaign drive will focus on the grassroots through village to village and ward to ward aggressive mobilisation to ensure Atiku secure over 1.2 million votes in Abia State and over 85 per cent of the votes cast in the South East in 2023.
“We don’t see any threat to us achieving this target because the presidential candidate of the PDP is the most experienced and prepared to take the country out of its current woes. Among all the top presidential candidates, Atiku has the capacity, the network and the know-how to take the country to the next level and salvage Nigeria from total collapse.”
On strategies for Atiku’s victory in Abia and the entire South East, Chigbu disclosed the first phase shall essentially comprise of a massive grassroots mobilisation strategy to encourage registered voters to turn out in large numbers for collection of their permanent voters’ cards (PVCs)…
, while the second phase shall comprise of a comprehensive village to village and ward to ward campaign and mobilisation networking for effective voter turn-out for Atiku’s election.
“In Abia, there are about 1,932,892 registered voters and only 1,729,943 have collected their PVCs, while 202,949 of the said PVCs remain uncollected. If this number is added to the 269,340 that completed the just concluded continuous voters’ registration (CVR) as at August 31, 2022, the number of uncollected PVCs sums up to approximately 472,289.
“Our group will step up mobilisation drive across wards and villages to fish for all those who participated at the concluded CVR and ensure we provide seamless systems and incentives to encourage them to come out en masse for the collection of their PVCs starting October.”
Chigbu, therefore, called on residents of Abia State and the entire South East to forget about primordial sentiments and vote for Atiku who is detribalised and well prepared to unite and rescue the country from the current underdevelopment and backwardness.