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 the 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 on states and communities in the South East, preparatory for the 2023 general elections.
Coordinator of the group Chinyere Chigbu, in a statement released on Wednesday, explained that the Committee of Friends G5 South East Zone was determined to ensure that Atiku Abubakar wins not only Abia State but the entire southeastern states.
He recalled that in the 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 Abubakar.
He added: “To this end, our sensitisation and campaign drive will focus on the grassroots through the village to village and ward to ward aggressive mobilisation to ensure that Atiku Abubakar secures over 1.2 million votes in Abia State and over 85 per cent of the votes cast in the South East in 2023.
Read also: HURIWA urges police to arrest, prosecute Cross River youths for lynching Catholic sisters
“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 Abubakar 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 that the first phase shall essentially comprise a massive grassroots mobilisation strategy to encourage registered voters to turn out in large numbers for the collection of their Permanent Voter 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 above is added to the 269,340 that completed the just concluded Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) as of 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 Abubakar who is detribalised and well prepared to unite and rescue the country from the current underdevelopment and backwardness.