By
Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai
I welcome you
all to the formal launch of a crucial phase in our joint quest to make Kaduna
State GREAT again. We unveil today the Campaign Council that will lead the APC
to victory in Kaduna State.
Our party stands poised to be elected by the people
of Kaduna State; it is therefore proper to acknowledge and thank the members
whose efforts and sacrifices have helped to position us as the people’s choice.
Our
teeming members across the state are the pillars of our party, and their
commitment and hard work continue to strengthen the APC. The leaders of the
legacy parties that merged into the APC deserve praise for evolving, out of
many, a united party structure fit to carry the hopes of our people.
The
members of the interim executive did a sterling job to further broaden the
appeal of our party, and to incorporate new members. The elected executive of
the party at the state, zonal and local levels have commendably maintained the
momentum.
Furthermore,
we recognise the continuing positive contributions of the distinguished leaders
who made our governorship primaries in Kaduna State such a joyous celebration
of democracy.
After
the successful conclusion of our party primaries, we began a new process of
inclusion to bring together all strands of our party. In that time, after a
thorough search and wide consultations, the party named Mr. Barnabas Yusuf Bala
(Bantex), the state chairman of our party, as my running mate.
As an accomplished political figure, with vast experience and remarkable
character and intellect, I am delighted to welcome Bantex as a capable partner
for the tough tasks ahead. Our pairing is a ticket of performance and
integrity, and the people can see that the APC is offering unmatched quality.
We
have renewed ourselves and our structures for the next phase of our journey of
change. The APC Kaduna Change team has strengthened itself in unity; we march
on to the elections as a mighty, broad movement, representing the best of
Kaduna State and ready to bring change, unity and progress to Kaduna State.
The
task before us is huge, but we have the might of the people behind us. We will
need the people’s steady support not only for electoral victory, but to govern
effectively and to put our state on the path of sustainable change.
The people
of Kaduna State now know that the PDP government has collected and spent N600
billion in just seven years; yet there is little evidence of all that in the
poor infrastructure base of the state, whether roads or water supply, or in
human capital development, jobs and social welfare indices.
Kaduna State has
the highest debt level per capita in Nigeria; yet it is also rated by the World
Bank as the worst place to do business in Northern Nigeria. Even our capital
city, Kaduna, from where the huge landmass and peoples of Northern Nigeria were
administered for decades, is almost stagnant, appearing dazed by the sheer
incompetence it is enduring.
It
is obvious that the present government has beaten our Kaduna State to the
ground. We are ready to make our Kaduna State to stand tall again, as a bastion
of peace, prosperity and progress; a bulwark of harmony, equality and
solidarity; a magnet for talent and enterprise, a rebuke to incompetence and a
shining light of positive possibilities and responsible governance.
It is time
to kick out those who treat political power as a perpetual ego-trip, an
enterprise in aggrandising themselves and their narrow circle, an excuse for
gluttonic enjoyment of perquisites, a justification for an endless indulgence
in vacation mentality and a platform for feckless abandonment of
responsibility.
The
APC Kaduna Change Team is ready to restore the civilised notion of political
power as a platform for service, a tool of change and an enabler of order,
security, harmony, peace and prosperity. Not for us empty promises, the
politics of deceit, or the promotion of violence and division. We offer only
solemn readiness to sweat our all for Kaduna State.
Well
before our primaries, we have consulted widely, discussing and analysing the
problems of the state, and considering possible solutions to them. We published
the outcome of all the analyses as a manifesto, which we have further shared
with the diverse constituencies of this state, reflecting our desire to offer
competent governance as soon as we are vested with the people’s mandate.
As
stated clearly in our manifesto, “the APC believes that every citizen has the
right to live in dignity, to aspire to and to attain the good life; that it is
the duty of the government to organize society to enable every person develop
their talents and be educated and healthy enough to make the best choices for
themselves.
The APC believes in you; that you possess the dynamism and the
ability to grow yourself and make a contribution to society. What we seek is
the responsibility to work with you to secure lives and property, create jobs,
provide healthcare and build a prosperous society for all.”
This
summarises the values and thinking behind our programme for Kaduna State. We
are primarily committed to good governance, competently deploying public
resources to the public good and taking responsibility for securing positive
outcomes.
The APC Kaduna Change Team is committed to fostering an environment
that secures lives and property by tackling the roots of intolerance and
communal violence.
Our
government will invest in our people by improving capacity and delivery in
Health, Education and Social Welfare. We shall make a priority of Transparent
Governance and Improved Service Delivery by reenergizing and empowering the
public service.
We shall rebuild and expand water supply, rural
electrification, and roads infrastructure. We shall energetically promote
Agriculture and Food Security, while implementing Land Reform as a basis for
wealth creation and capital formation. We shall unite our people, and relate to
all with fairness and equality.
The
APC Kaduna Change Team will implement reforms that will create a transparent
and responsible local government system, that is properly funded, autonomous
and technically-strengthened to be responsive and capable of delivering
services at the grassroots. We are poised to take advantage of our state’s
proximity to Abuja by developing new towns in locations neighboring the federal
capital territory.
Given
our belief in education as a progressive and life-enhancing force, the APC
Kaduna Change Team will make the first nine years of education free. This will
be done in schools that will be rebuilt, repaired and renovated with modern
facilities that aid learning. We shall empower our teachers with further
training and incentives, and make teaching more attractive to more qualified
people.
As
FCT minister, we achieved the successes we did in Abuja largely with the civil
servants we met there. We provided them with inspired leadership and a sense of
purpose, and they delivered. We shall similarly empower the civil servants in
Kaduna State to excel. We shall raise the number of healthcare professionals in
the state and improve access to healthcare facilities.
We
shall change Kaduna State, and make it a place that is fair to all its
residents, committed to peaceful and orderly development, friendly to
enterprise, supportive of talent and protective of our young, the old and the
infirm. We are ready for the difficult tasks ahead. All we ask is that you
trust us with your votes so that we can together change Kaduna State, and
restore hope and harmony.
Our
leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, is energetically mobilising the people of
Nigeria to make change possible by electing him as the next president of
Nigeria. We welcome the enthusiasm and tremendous response he is receiving. The
way forward is to vote APC at national and state levels so that we can CHANGE
Nigeria at all levels.
It
is my pleasure to inaugurate our APC Kaduna State Campaign Council, the team of
men and women, charged with the responsibility to manage our campaign and
secure victory at all levels for the APC in Kaduna State. The members have been
chosen for their experience and commitment, and I salute them all for accepting
this burden.
They will coordinate our diverse efforts to
successfully elect APC candidates from every House of Assembly, House of
Representatives and Senatorial constituency up to the Governorship of Kaduna
State, and the Presidency of Nigeria.
Under the leadership of Suleiman Hunkuyi
as chairman, and Ben Kure as DG, I have no doubt that the Campaign Council will
effectively mobilise and organise the people of Kaduna State, who are eager for
change, to deliver victory for the APC.
The
people are eager for change! Let’s Make Kaduna Great Again!
Kaduna
State is Ready for Change, Unity and Progress.
Mallam
Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, the APC Candidate for Governor of Kaduna State,
read this speech at the inauguration of his Campaign Council and formal
launch of the Kaduna State APC Team’s general election campaign.
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