Jonathan Thanks S’West PDP For Re-election Endorsement

President Goodluck Jonathan was in Lagos yesterday, where he expressed gratitude to the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for giving him the right of first refusal to as the party’s sole candidate for the 2015 Presidential election.

Addressing party members at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, at the South West sensitization and unity rally, Dr Jonathan said “I thank the party for giving me the right of first refusal, that is what happens in advance democracies. It also shows that our democracy is maturing.

“There are no dictators in the PDP. There is no one who will determine the councillor, local government chairmen, state House of Assembly member, House of Representative member, Senator, governor and even president.

“The decision is by the people, for the people and that is why the PDP will continue to new things. The Vice President and I have promised not to disappoint the people; the PDP will continue to do the right thing and we promise you that we will not disappoint you.”

The president spoke about the achievement of his administration since inception, saying that the Transformation Agenda was on course. “You will see that the government is moving. The signs are there though we have not reached where we wish to reach but government is focused.

“The Transformation Agenda is on course. We will continue to make sure that we create jobs for our youths, the job creation, the VP mentioned, we are taking it from various angles. In terms of education, we are making sure we improve the quality of education and also enlarge the facilities.”

Speaking further, he said “when we came on board, we noticed that a state in the south west did not have a federal university. We built a federal university there, it is a small university but we will continue to improve it.

“We’re improving small and medium industries to create jobs for our people and we are providing soft loans to make sure young men and women are employed. We are promoting youth programmes.

“If we continue to create 3.5 million jobs every year in the next few years, we will see that the unemployment rate will continue to drop.”

He, however, urged party members to observe a minute silence for those who lost their lives, recently in a building collapsed, at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos.

Commiserating with those who lost their lives in the collapsed, he said “My first port of call was where a six-storey building collapsed and 80 people where found dead and over 130 people were injured. It was a very sad incident for us and the international community because most of the people who died in that building collapse were non Nigerians. About 65 of them were South Africans. I spoke with the President of South Africa to send our own condolence.”