PDP’ll win S’West in 2015, Presidency says THE Presidency on Monday said the Peoples Democratic Party would certainly win the August 9 governorship election in Osun State as well as win in the other South-West states in the 2015 elections. It said it had become expedient for the zone to return to the ruling PDP in order to shed the toga of opposition which he said the zone had been known for in the past. Already, the PDP had won the June 21 election in Ekiti State. The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Prof. Ahmed Alkali, told journalists in Abuja on Monday that the PDP remained the party to beat in the zone, given the response of the electorate lately. Alkali said, “It was glaring as everybody could see that the crowd of PDP supporters who welcomed PDP in Osogbo was awesome. “If I had doubts before now, like any other person based on propaganda, I am now more rest assured that Osun State is as good as returning to the PDP after the governorship election”. Alkali’s postulation formed part of Jonathan’s strategists’ plan to return the President for second term next year. Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja showed that the President and his strategists believed that Jonathan needed the votes of the South-West to realise his second term ambition. Our correspondent learnt that the President’s strategists, who included some governors, key members of the PDP and ministers, believed that votes from South-West would make a serious impact during the 2015 presidential election. A governor, who is a member of the think-tank of the President, who spoke with our correspondent on Sunday on condition of anonymity, said the Presidency believed that it was wrong for the people of the zone to work against the second term ambition of Jonathan. He said that there were fears among the followers of the President when five out of the six states in the zone fell into the hands of the opposition All Progressives Congress. Only Ondo State is being ruled by the Labour Party in the zone while the remaining five states, which are Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti are currently being ruled by the APC. However, Ekiti State fell into the hands of the PDP during the last governorship election in the state. The governor said, “We need to capture the zone because it is strategic for us in 2015. As I speak with you, we are not sure of the votes from the North-West and North-East at all. “You also know that both the North-West and the South-West have the largest number of voters out of the six zones in the country. “So, the two staggered governorship elections in both Ekiti and Osun states is giving us an opportunity to gain some grounds and we are not going to play with it.” He added that the President and his team were sure of votes from the South-South, North-Central and the South-East, adding that with some votes coming from the North-East where the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu hails from, it would not be difficult for the President to return to power.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:02:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015