A group, Fulani Political Forum, has endorsed Kola Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), ahead of the 25th February presidential election.
The group also promised to deliver more than seven million votes for the party’s presidential candidate.
Patron of the forum, Ibrahim Abdullahi, made the endorsement at a rally held in Abuja, on Monday.
Describing Mr Abiola as a man with capacity, Mr Abdullahi said the Fulanis decided to vote for him for his patriotism.
He said: “The Fulani pastoralists used to have about five million votes but this time when the opportunity was given for people to register online, we decided to generate a data of young Fulani graduates.
“We provided them with devices to go to nomadic settlements to register those people so that we can be able to increase our voting capacity.
“We are happy to inform Nigerians that we can be able to produce seven million votes now confidently.”
He said the forum identified with PRP based on their people-centred manifesto.
“We have not seen the difference between the two major political parties. We call on Nigerians to give PRP a chance.
“What we are hoping for is a complete change and in Abiola, we see a gentleman that can be able to drive Nigeria forward.
“It is only natural that if Nigerians have morality, I think we should go and beg Abiola to come run this country.
“Other parties should support him because of the contribution of his Father, the late MKO Abiola, who had done a lot for this country in so many spheres of life.
“Given what happened to his father, I think Nigeria should support his son to rule this country. That is called justice.”
The patron also urged Nigerians not to vote based on religious or ethnic grounds.
“We are going to vote on capacity, patriotism, justice. And in Abiola, we have seen a man that is able to provide that kind of leadership.”
In his speech, Mr Abiola said that with the support of the Fulanis, “we will fix this nation”.
While calling on party supporters to hold the different candidates of the party accountable, Mr Abiola said he would ensure that women and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) were carried along if elected.
He also pledged to empower the youth if elected president, saying that the biggest legacy the party would bequeath them was to enthrone role models to enable them to take over and rule the country.
Mr Abiola also lamented over the unavailability of the new naira notes, saying that the policy coming at an election period was unfortunate.
Mr Abiola said: “We have a situation where the policy is coming too late and it was not really thought out.
“The banks cannot cope with the influx.
“We do not have enough cash out there; many of our citizens are not even in the banking system; if you are in a village or in a local government that doesn’t have a bank, how do you change money.”
(NAN)
