Youths in the South West geopolitical zone have declined an offer of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) reserved for the zone by the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Acting under the aegis of Progressive Yoruba Youth Congress (PYYC), the youths accused the PDP of making many unfulfilled promises to the region in the past.
They said the party was in the habit of publicly promising key positions to the region only to fail after getting the region’s support for its candidate.
At a press conference in Ikeja, Lagos, the PYYC National President, Kola Salawu, said the All Progressives Congress (APC) proved it was better than PDP by zoning the vice presidency to the region and fulfilling it.
He said the APC has promised to do same in 2019 while the PDP picked a vice presidency candidate from the South East.
Salawu said that on the basis of this, the group rejected Atiku and the PDP.
The PYYC President said, “South West will not go back to oblivion again. And all the good people of the region must rise up to protect this ongoing progress and support the one who has brought development to the region.
“We urge all sons and daughters of the South West of Nigeria to be politically awake and choose wisely in the forth-coming elections as the decisions we make will determine if the region will continue to enjoy the true benefits of good governance or we go back to the days of total neglect.
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“Let us not forget that the neglect by the PDP was not only political but also infrastructural. The party for whatever reason barely completed or even carried out any major project in the South West.
“The Lagos – Ibadan express way, the busiest in the country was abandoned.
“The Benin – Ore expressway was equally abandoned, so also was the Oyo- Ogbomosho road, there was barely any federal presence in the South West.
“We must also remain politically vigilant. When President Buhari’ s tenure ends in 2023 after he wins the 2019 elections, power will return to the southern part of Nigeria and that is just some four years away.
“We never can tell what will happen then as the highest ranking person in this government from the south is no other but His Excellency the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo. It may just be his turn.”