•  Insists leadership is not by tribe
•  Says I know Atiku enough to pray to God for my children to be like him

Just like Prophet Moses told King Pharaoh of Egypt on behalf of God that ‘let my people go’ when the Israelites were under the enslavement of the Egytptians; similarly, Dr Eddy Olafeso, the Zonal Liason Officer of Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council in the Southwest, on Tuesday, urged the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to give way for the freedom of Nigerians ahead of the general elections on Saturday, February 25, 2023, saying, “let our people go.”

Dr Olafeso, a former National Vice Chairman Southwest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) disclosed in a Media Parley with Journalists yesterday that the PDP is ready for a new beginning in the country, adding that Tinubu brought APC to destroy Nigeria so that he can bury it.

“Two weeks ago, I said Tinubu brought APC to destroy Nigeria. The next level is, Tinubu brought APC to destroy Nigeria so that he can bury it. My conclusion is not far-fetched, nobody is asking questions for the past 7 and a half years. In Nigeria, our lives have gone from bad to worst. I never imagine in my entire life that the country can be like this. They have buried our country. And we have to let them know, we have to tell them, let our people go”, he said.

Adding that “our lives are like the lives the Israelites lived in Egypt. APC must let our people go. I will tell you the reasons, the economy has gone south, and people living in IDP, the number rises every day, and the number of children out of school has gone to 3,000,000. Do your fact-check, every human index of development, none has been part of Nigeria within the last 7 years. They have destroyed our sensitivity to negative reports.

“In Nigeria, people are being killed for no reason. A driver killed his boss, wife and child, wiping out his generation. It doesn’t matter how these young children get money. They call it Yahoo -Yahoo, they are celebrated. When they get to every venue, they are the reign of the moment. We can’t just leave Nigeria to continue to drift like this,”he said.

Olafeso, who holds the chieftaincy title of Oloroogun (Warlord), said, “I looked around and I see that if care is not taken and the truth is not told, we all will be victims. Now, the country is not free any more. People are kidnapped and disappeared. Nobody asks questions. Herdsmen come in and around destroying people’s means of livelihood. I was one of the victims and I am still leaking my wound. When I saw the 30 hectares of land that I put together for one and half years being plundered with cows taking over my farms and the bastards, illiterates, and idiots even uprooted my cassava to feed their cows without thinking about me. That’s cruelty at its highest definition. Yet society permits it.

“So, going back to what I have said, these people (APC) must let our people go. The event of the last few weeks is enough for all of you to be on the rampage. The party in government fighting the government they put in place. Taking each other to court and coming from the court to the public domain, creating havoc,” he added.

The former Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Mobilization also lamented the spoor state of the economy while vouching for the personality of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP with so much confidence that he will do well if elected the president of Nigeria.

He said, “As per the economy, you know how much you buy a litter of petrol. I don’t need to tell you. They have taken our world and shattered it. Are we going to watch them? No, I don’t think we should.

“Waziri Atiku Abubakar was the vice president of former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Even at its worst of abuse, I don’t think Nigeria descended so low into the abyss we found ourselves today. The man I represent is Waziri Atiku Abubakar. He is from Jeda and I am from Idepe Okitipupa. Several hundred miles apart. But the man I got to know, is clearly different from the image they put out for him.

“There was a preacher in Lagos who said that this prayer he wants to say that may your children be like the man you wish to vote for. I know Atiku enough to pray to Almighty God for my children to be like him. To grow old like him, to succeed the way he succeeded, to add value to humanity the way he has done, and to have compassion for human beings the way he has been and for God to grant him long life, at 76, he can still traverse the entire country, and return home in good health”, he added.

Olafeso said the PDP is ready for a new beginning, adding that true leadership has nothing to do with tribes.

“I want to tell you that the Peoples Democratic Party is ready for a new beginning. By the 25th of February, by the grace of God, we will try, we will triumph. Our debt profile rose with nothing to show for it. It’s about $40b now.

“So this election is not about tribe. It’s not about “Yoruba lokan or emilokan”. In all honesty, se Yoruba lokan ni? The southeast is yet to produce a president since the coup era and ditto the northeast. And like I said, the history of our party (PDP) is not the history of APC. No nation has ever developed under the sick mentality that is when you share power by tribe that there will be cohesion and unity in a nation.

“When you see an ailing old man, missing his words, stumbling and falling everywhere and you think that is when Nigeria will be led out of its problems, it means something is wrong with all of us. Leadership is not about tribe. Our choice of Waziri is born out of our knowledge of him.

“Distinguished gentlemen, on the 25th of February, let’s vote for Waziri Atiku Abubakar”, he added.