The presidential candidate of Peoples Trust (PT) vowed yesterday to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar through “ballot revolution”.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Abuja, Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, told his supporters that he had sufficiently mobilised the grassroots to realise his ambition, adding: “It is going to be a people’s ballot revolution.”
He said it was time recycling of old politicians was stopped and frowned at a situation where some persons continue to live on government at the expense of the vast majority of Nigerians.
Olawepo-Hashim said 2019 was about how to stop killings and hunger in the land.
According to him “It is about how to stop the killings of our people. It is about how to give living wage to people. We will pay N50 ,000 minimum wage to our workers at the one year anniversary of our government.
“The government cannot pay decent minimum wage because they lack imagination, creativity and are devoid of capacity to create jobs.
“But when elected, I will create four million jobs every year. You can trust me to create jobs because that is what I have been doing for 27 years now.”
He slammed successive governments for mismanaging the nation’s economy.
“The economy is mismanaged because they have lived all their lives on government’s largesse.
“The APC policies have always promoted poverty. After three years in the saddle, the party has increased poverty and hunger in the land while the other party is about corruption, selling government property at cheap prices to themselves.”
Olawepo-Hashim declared that PT is the real alternative party that would sustain the people’s revolution.
Justifying the choice of Dr Arthur Nwankwo as his running mate, Olawepo-Hashim said the statesman had fought for the greatness of Nigeria, stressing that “he is one of the credible people you can find in the southeastern zone of the country.”
“We commit that no part of Nigeria will be treated like a second class citizenry. The choice I made on Nwankwo is to affirm that no section of Nigeria should be made to feel like a conquered people, ” he stated.
He said that competent leaders must be voted into offices, adding that “this is time for truly tested and educated leaders who understand how easy 21st Century economy operates to be elected.”
He added “What we will give Nigeria is a government and leadership that are determined to grow the economy to four trillion dollar.”
Delivering the party chairman’s opening address, Olawale Okunniyi, Secretary of Board of Trustees of PT and the Director General of the National Intervention Movement (NIM), urged Nigerians to embrace a third force as the new alternative to the mainstream parties in the country.
He said: “PT is here to pursue political revolution. We are for paradigm shift. We are serious about changing the fortunes of our country for the better.
“Our candidate is a product of political revolutionary struggle and the party is built on that tradition, hence, our insistence on pursuing a fundamental political agenda to set the path of the nation right.
“That was why we have one of the architects of federalist restructuring in Nigeria, Dr Arthur Nwankwo, as the Vice Presidential candidate of the party.”