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By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA – THE United Progressive Party, UPP, Tuesday, said that President Muhammadu Buhari was adopted as the party’s Presidential candidate in the 2019 election because of his credibility and uprightness.

The party also said that its support for President Buhari was for the sake of national stability, cohesion and unity, adding that four years of President Buhari was far more reassuring and beneficial to most Nigerians than a possible eight years of another political party.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the National Chairman of UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie said that the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party acting on behalf of its National Executive Committee, NEC, and after extensive consultations with all stakeholders endorsed and adopted President Buhari for next year’s election.

But the party said that its core values as provided in its manifesto and the objective principles of its constitution in the areas of restructuring, self determination of all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, devolution of power, referendum, unconditional release of prisoners of conscience, state police and community policing among others remained sacrosanct.

He said, “We wish to state at the onset that our great party, the United Progressive Party (UPP) received a number of invitations for the purpose of forming a Coalition for the 2019 Presidential Election. Delegations of our Party honoured virtually all the invitations and submitted their reports to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party.

“On Friday 17th August 2018 the National Executive Committee (NEC) of

the Party met and approved that the Party shall not field a Presidential Candidate for the 2019 Presidential Election among many other far-reaching resolutions including the domestication of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Act. Having considered the reports of the delegations that represented the Party in the various Alliance/Coalition meetings, NEC mandated the NWC to continue with exploring the best Coalition option for our Party and in the overall interest of majority of the Nigerian people.



“After a painstaking evaluation of all the options and in consideration of the sincerity, uprightness and credibility of President Muhammadu Buhari which he has brought to bear in his approach to governance for the past 3½ years, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party acting on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC), after extensive consultations with all stakeholders in the Party wish to announce to the Nigerian Public that President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) has been endorsed and adopted as our Presidential Candidate for the 2019 Presidential Election.

“Our resolution to adopt President Muhammadu Buhari as our candidate has been made easy for us by the leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who elected former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as their Presidential Candidate for the 2019 Presidential election.

“We wish to emphatically state at this juncture that the core values of our Party as expressly provided in our Party Manifesto and objective principles of our Constitution registered with INEC, especially in the areas of restructuring, self-determination of all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, devolution of power, referendum, unconditional release of prisoners of conscience, State Police, and Community policing etc, remain sacrosanct. We shall continue to explore the inclusion of these revolutionary agenda within the Coalition.”

The party also said that its primary objective and target from now, going forward was to deploy its Ward, local government areas, state and national structures to aggressively campaign in a very robust, vibrant and civilized manner to ensure that President Buhari’s victory in the 2019 Presidential election will be beyond any iota of doubt.

“We shall do whatever that is possible to ensure that the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 shall assume the status of a national consensus.

“As Nigerian citizens we feel the difficult economic times that the nation is facing.

“As we hit the campaign train we shall from time to time share with Nigerians the many sound and logical reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari shall be returned to complete his second term in office and why it will be a tragedy of a monumental proportion to return the years of profligacy, unbridled corruption, scandalous leakages and highly compromised Judiciary, to power,” the party said.

The party further said, “It is therefore our position and for the sake of national stability, cohesion and unity, that four more years of President Muhammadu Buhari is far more reassuring and beneficial to most Nigerians whether from the North or the South than a possible eight years… which will also foist on Nigerians the sad memories of the 16 years of nightmare Nigerians lived under the PDP government in Nigeria.”

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