Thirty-four political parties in Ogun State under the aegis of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) have adopted former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, as their candidate for the February 16 presidential election.
Rising from an enlarged meeting held on Thursday at the Sagamu residence of Gbenga Daniel, a former Governor of Ogun State and Deputy Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council (South), the leadership of the political parties and their candidates at all levels unanimously agreed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had failed in its electoral promises to the people.
They, thereafter, endorsed Atiku.
Addressing the gathering, which also had the representatives of Afenifere, the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Igbo, Hausa and South-South communities, as well as the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Chief Razak Eyiowuawi, the National Chairman of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) and Assistant Secretary of the Steering Committee of CUPP, said the main aim of the body is to “save Nigeria from insecurity, violence and hardship which has become the order of the day and the only way out of the impending danger is to vote out the ruling party by coming together as one united front to usher in a new administration”.
Speaking on behalf of the Labour Party in Ogun, its former Chairman and House of Representatives candidate, Niyi Osoba, said it would be “shameful if APC returns to power under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari who has constantly exhibited lack of capacity to govern”.
In his remarks, Chief Tayo Onayemi, a former local government Chairman and a chieftain of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), stated that the “incompetence of the Buhari administration is very conspicuous as a government, which has been operating as a failure since inception which calls for a change”.
Other leaders of respective political parties took turns to speak at the occasion and charged their members to vote for Atiku.
In his remarks, Gbenga Daniel thanked the leadership of the coalition group for their support.
According to him, the current situation in the country calls for a radical departure from the status quo and this could only be achieved through collective efforts and engagement of all well-meaning Nigerians, irrespective of their political inclinations.