Governor Nasir Elrufai of Kaduna state has flagged off his re-election campaign on Wednesday, saying he is seeking re-election to consolidate his achievements.
This was even as he called on the people of the state to vote massively for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in all elective offices from the President, Governor, sSenate House of Representatives and state House of Assembly.
Addressing a mammoth crowd at Kaduna Township stadium, El-rufai disclosed that ‘the citizen of the state can see that we stand for them.
“The youths and the women have seen our programmes and they can recognise that we seek to empower not to create dependence.
“The people of Kaduna State know who has completed and commissioned the 150million litres per day Water Treatment Plant of the Zaria Water Project.
“They know that the APC has doubled internally-generated revenue without increasing tax rates. The youths see themselves in the number of young persons in the government.
“Our women know that five of our 14 commissioners are women, something never before seen in the state. They see other women heading our key agencies. They use our investments in hospitals. And they know that the APC is Putting People First and leaving no one behind!
“Today, we present flags to our candidates for various elective offices in 2019. Each APC candidate knows that getting the party flag is just the trigger for the hard work of engaging with and convincing citizens in every constituency to vote for our party.
“No election is won until the people have cast their votes. There is no room for complacency. We must work harder than we did in 2015 to campaign and get out the vote.
“In 2015, we campaigned as outsiders, making the case that we had the programmes, the people and the competence to govern Kaduna State better.
‘The voters accepted our argument. In government, we have been guided by the manifesto of the APC, doing the things we promised. We have made tough choices and accomplished much for our people.
‘A lot remains to be done to overcome the legacy of neglect and waste that held down the state. But we have a proud record to run on.
‘We ran on our record of attainments in human capital development and governance innovations during the local government elections. In those elections, the people gave us their resounding backing. It was our first test of popular support, and it showed that ordinary people know who is standing for them. We do not take that for granted. Therefore, we will campaign even harder.
‘It is clear that the political forces that were soundly defeated in 2015 have ganged up again. We must mobilise our people to again reject them at the ballot.
‘The struggle to empower ordinary people and to make their lives better requires that the party of the people should continue in government. The APC has worked hard to begin fixing the rot left behind by 16 years of PDP misrule and neglect, but there is a lot more to do to clean up the mess and reset the country on the path to stability
Also speaking , APC deputy national organising secretary, Muhammed Sani, while calling on electorates to vote President Muhammadu Buhari, governor Nasir El-Rufai and all other 2019 party’s candidates said the national leadership of the party was impressed with the performance of the governor.
Sani said APC will be expecting million of votes for President Buhari in 2019 as they voted in 2015 polls:”
‘The national leadership of APC is quite proud of the leadership of Kaduna state governor. We will render support to the victory of governor Nasir El-Rufai and all APC candidates in Kaduna state.
‘We are counting on the millions of votes from Kaduna state for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 polls. Kaduna state voted massively for APC in 2015 and I am convince that your votes for APC in 2019 will be higher than before “