Hundreds of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths in Kwara State held a peaceful march in Ilorin, the state capital, to protest the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration led by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s unmet promises.
They said that the APC-led administration duped the people with promises of better governance during its ‘Otoge’ campaign prior to the 2019 general election.
Former Senate President Bukola Saraki, speaking to the youth in Ilorin, described the gathering as a spontaneous reaction to what the youngsters had been through at the hands of the ruling party at the state and national levels.
He said: “A lot of them were given the wrong impression and unkept promises and they have seen that it’s time to go back to a government that will support and care for them. We have said the APC has nothing to offer the youths and Nigerians and that is what is being reiterated here today.”
Saraki said this is the time to rescue Nigeria and set it in the right direction. He added that the PDP has demonstrated the energy and enthusiasm to take over governance at both the state and the national levels.
He added: “These are ordinary people on the street saying “O su wa” (we are tied). And why would they not be when you look at the cost of a bag of rice and garri, the issue of insecurity and all other negative indices plaguing the country? The story is the same.
“But the people want a greener pasture and different direction in this country which only the PDP can offer.”
One of the youth leaders, Otukoko Olayinka, said that advocates of the ‘Otoge’ struggles have not lived up to expectations against their promises in 2019. He said: “The then advocates of Otoge struggle promised the people of Kwara a lot in 2019. They’ve not lived up to one-quarter of it. So, the Kwara youth from PDP came together with the slogan, ‘o su wa’ (we are tired). What this means in essence is that prices of food items and fuel have gone unbearably too high since the emergence of the APC government. Insecurity is the order of the day. People are groaning. Kwarans have not enjoyed the dividends of democracy as promised by the crusaders of Otoge in 2019.
He added: “We are saying we cannot continue this way. The past PDP government in power had shown competence and good governance. We have seen that the APC had not been able to give what it promised the people in the state. Kwara people, represented by the youth constituency, are saying enough is enough for the APC government. Come 2023, we want to bid the present government bye and usher in competent, capable leaders in those that have done it in the past and that can still do it again.”