Gombe: Atiku pledges to revive power-generating dam, boost trade
…Urges supporters to produce another “Tafawa Balewa in me”
*Wike’s ally, Dankwambo, abandons Integrity Group, joins Atiku in Gombe
The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has promised to revive Dadin Kowa Dam to generate light for the country when elected in the forthcoming election.
Atiku who spoke at the PDP Presidential campaign rally in Gombe, said all the roads linking Gombe to Adamawa with Borno, with Bauchi, with Yobe will be reconstructed for the purposes of enhancing trade and commerce under his government.
He said: “Let me reiterate the promises we made if by the grace of God and you support the PDP. We promised to empower your businessmen to expand their businesses so that they can expand their businesses for our young men and women.
“We also promised you that the Dadin Kowa Dam, which was built by the PDP to provide electricity and irrigation is activated for electricity and irrigation, provided you support the government of PDP.
“We will make sure that all the roads linking Gombe to Adamawa with Borno, with Bauchi, with Yobe are all reconstructed for the purposes of enhancing trade and commerce.
“Many of you were not born the time the late Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was in office. You now have another opportunity to produce another Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in me.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of PDP Campaign Council and governor of Akwa-Ibom state, Udom Emmanuel said that the economy will bounce back and the Naira strengthen when PDP come on board on 2023.
He said: “When PDP was in power, how much was a tin of milk, how much is a tin of milk today? When PDP was in power, how much was a bag of rice, how much is a bag of rice today? When PDP was in power, how much was one orange, how much is an orange sold today?
Meanwhile, Abubakar’s latest comment comes weeks after he had said a president of northern extraction is “what the northerner needs… not a Yoruba candidate, or an Igbo candidate.”.
Meanwhile , a former governor of Gombe State and a political ally of Rivers State governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, has abandoned the Integrity Group, a pressure group of aggrieved members of PDP.
Dankwambo was a prominent member of the Wike Group, which has been at loggerheads with the national leadership of the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku, over the continued stay of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the party.
Consequently, members of the group announced their withdrawal from the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council except their demand of Ayu’s ouster was met.
However, to the surprise of many, the immediate-past governor of Gombe State joined Atiku and other party stalwarts in Gombe on Monday afternoon for the PDP presidential campaign rally in Gombe State.
Dankwambo was sighted right from the Gombe Airport welcoming party chieftains to the State, to the venue of the rally, where he also took his turn to speak to party members and supporters.
The Master of the Ceremony, Senator Dino Melaye, later announced that Dankwambo donated 20 buses to the Atiku/Okowa Campaign in his native Gombe State.
