President Goodluck Jonathan of Friday, Janyary16, 2015 urged Nigerian youths to prevent anyone from buying their votes, just as he reiterated his commitment to fix more women in leadership positions.
President Jonathan was speaking at the Abakaliki Township Stadium, Ebonyi State, venue for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign rally.
The President stated that the youth must reject any attempt to buy their vote as the practice had been commonplace since 1960 but needed to stop. He also expressed his wish to see a woman rule Nigeria before he dies.
Mr. President said: “Our campaign is for the young people. Our time is almost gone. We must change our circumstance. The young people should join us. Nobody should deceive you; nobody should buy your votes. Since 1960, we have been buying and selling votes and we don’t want to continue like this. If you want development, you have to join PDP to develop.
“For women, your vote is crucial. We have given identity to Nigerian women. This is not the end. We want Nigerian women to be paraded at the global level. We must expose our women.
“This is the only administration that is ready to give every position to women. My aspiration is to see a female president before I die.
“That is one of the reasons we are giving such scholarships so that in future, Nigerians will be able to produce some of our basic needs; countries that are at our levels have advanced so much. I remember that Alhaji Maitama Sule had always said that the Defence Industry in Nigeria with that of Brazil were established at the same time but while that of Brazil is now manufacturing aircraft, our own is busy manufacturing chairs. We say we must change that and for you to change that, you must change the manpower to do that.
“This government is focused; we know where we are going and we know where we want to take This country to; the young people should join us and nobody should deceive you or buy your votes; from 1960 we gained independence till today, people have been buying and selling votes and the country is drifting backward.”
