First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan yesterday declared that there has never been any budget from the national coffers for her office and her activities since her husband assumed office.
She took a swipe at her critics and those opposed to her office, challenging them to be courageous enough to set up a probe to unearth any form of corruption involving and activities of her office, if any.
Dame Jonathan stated this while addressing thousands of Edo women and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, organised by her NGO, Women for Change Development Initiative, as part of moves to garner support for President Jonathan ahead of the March 28 election held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, the state capital.She disclosed that all she has done and stands for today as First Lady is a result of hard work, insisting that opposition, All Progressives Congress, APC and all those accusing the PDP led government of corruption are architects of politics of bitterness and agents of corruption.
The First Lady blasted the APC led government in Edo State for creating a crisis over the use of the stadium by sacking a Permanent Secretary and seeking to fix another event at the stadium when it was aware that she was booked to visit the state and meet women at the venue.
“Edo people you need to be peaceful. APC is a party of troublemakers, abusers, propagandists. They heard that I was coming and they went to fix their own (event). If I hear they are somewhere I won’t be there. They have not been bringing women, now they want to bring a woman because they want to create confusion,” she stated.
“The days are gone when old people will continue to dominate. This is your time young ones. The youths are the future leaders and the old must give way for the youths. If Mr. President finishes his eight years, he will enter his house.
“For whatever he wants to do for Nigeria he should finish it now. Others were there for eight years, so, it is our (Jonathan/Sambo) turn. Others have done their eight years, why is our own different. We will finish our eight years.”
Dame Jonathan noted that President Jonathan’s government has recognised the quality and potentials of women with 16 of them serving in various sensitive positions including ministerial seats out of the 42 ministers in the cabinet as well as empowerment of over three thousand women and youth though the SURE-P and YouWin programmes.
She called on Nigerian women, especially those in the state to vote massively for the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan and all the party’s candidates during the March 28 and April 11 polls to enable the PDP led administration continue in its people oriented programmes and provision of dividends of democracy to the people.
She also urged past leaders and other geopolitical zones of the country to support President Jonathan’s second term ambition, pointing out that other past leaders from the various zones of the country that had presided over the affairs of the nation led for eight years and wondered why President Jonathan’s own should be different.
This came as three persons including a policeman and two women, who were among the WFC supporters fainted at the campaign rally due to exhaustion at the peak of the event under the intense sun.
They were quickly carried out of the crowded venue on a stretcher into an ambulance and rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Benin for treatment.
Also, two suspected hoodlums were arrested yesterday inside the stadium for removing the banners and posters of the First Lady while the event was going on at the venue.
The suspects were beaten to pulp by angry PDP supporters who swooped on them for daring to take such an action when the ceremony was yet to end.
- Nigerian Pilot
She took a swipe at her critics and those opposed to her office, challenging them to be courageous enough to set up a probe to unearth any form of corruption involving and activities of her office, if any.
Dame Jonathan stated this while addressing thousands of Edo women and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, organised by her NGO, Women for Change Development Initiative, as part of moves to garner support for President Jonathan ahead of the March 28 election held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, the state capital.She disclosed that all she has done and stands for today as First Lady is a result of hard work, insisting that opposition, All Progressives Congress, APC and all those accusing the PDP led government of corruption are architects of politics of bitterness and agents of corruption.
The First Lady blasted the APC led government in Edo State for creating a crisis over the use of the stadium by sacking a Permanent Secretary and seeking to fix another event at the stadium when it was aware that she was booked to visit the state and meet women at the venue.
“Edo people you need to be peaceful. APC is a party of troublemakers, abusers, propagandists. They heard that I was coming and they went to fix their own (event). If I hear they are somewhere I won’t be there. They have not been bringing women, now they want to bring a woman because they want to create confusion,” she stated.
“The days are gone when old people will continue to dominate. This is your time young ones. The youths are the future leaders and the old must give way for the youths. If Mr. President finishes his eight years, he will enter his house.
“For whatever he wants to do for Nigeria he should finish it now. Others were there for eight years, so, it is our (Jonathan/Sambo) turn. Others have done their eight years, why is our own different. We will finish our eight years.”
Dame Jonathan noted that President Jonathan’s government has recognised the quality and potentials of women with 16 of them serving in various sensitive positions including ministerial seats out of the 42 ministers in the cabinet as well as empowerment of over three thousand women and youth though the SURE-P and YouWin programmes.
She called on Nigerian women, especially those in the state to vote massively for the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan and all the party’s candidates during the March 28 and April 11 polls to enable the PDP led administration continue in its people oriented programmes and provision of dividends of democracy to the people.
She also urged past leaders and other geopolitical zones of the country to support President Jonathan’s second term ambition, pointing out that other past leaders from the various zones of the country that had presided over the affairs of the nation led for eight years and wondered why President Jonathan’s own should be different.
This came as three persons including a policeman and two women, who were among the WFC supporters fainted at the campaign rally due to exhaustion at the peak of the event under the intense sun.
They were quickly carried out of the crowded venue on a stretcher into an ambulance and rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Benin for treatment.
Also, two suspected hoodlums were arrested yesterday inside the stadium for removing the banners and posters of the First Lady while the event was going on at the venue.
The suspects were beaten to pulp by angry PDP supporters who swooped on them for daring to take such an action when the ceremony was yet to end.
- Nigerian Pilot
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