September 2, 2014 – The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has called on publicity secretaries of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in all the 36 states including Abuja to highlight loopholes inherent in governments run by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and promote developmental strides recorded in states controlled by the party as part of efforts to win votes from Nigerians ahead of the 2015 general election.
Fashola gave the charge when the APC image makers paid him a courtesy call in Lagos.
“It will be your duty to more clearly articulate the issues in your state, where we have government where without debate development work is going on. You must commend them on developmental work, how government has stood up for the people across the board in spite the daily human challenge.
“Work will never finish, you must continue to connect our party with the government of the day connect policy our government with the party. We don’t have a government, it is important to stay on the issues and because by comparison APC has shown developmental capacity even more than what the government is doing there with our capacity, given the same resources we will do better”, the governor said.
He charged the image makers to learn how to tie national issues with national slip ups.
“You must learn your skills now to tie up national issues with national slip ups because people cannot connect poverty with electricity, both of them fit like a glove because if there is no power, factory won’t run and if factory don’t work there will be no job. If you don’t have job you will be poor. You must help make this connection. Without electricity locally produced goods will be more expensive than imported ones; so those producing locally is at odd, he downsizes and then what you have is poverty”, the governor said.
He added that the APC government does not control price of fuel.
“We did not raise it; we don’t control exchange and interest rates. Those are the rates that affect what the company produces; how much and how effective they can produce. Our party is not responsible for managing income from oil, so why is it disappearing if the party in control can do it let us show them how to do it because they connect with education, healthcare, housing and security.
“People who don’t have work have higher threshold for temptation; those who have job will look for where to enjoy their money in the evening. I hear they Want to do another 4 years for what, are the people happy?, he queried.
The governor who commended the image makers for coming together to work for the progress of the party said people can now see that the party is different and not doing things the ordinary way.
“You are making history for coming together and this is definitive for the kind of politics we play going forward because clearly the APC has changed the game and people expected us to do normal things but they are seeing APC organizing public lectures and clearly people are seeing that something must be different here”, he said adding that the responsibility to propagate what the party is doing rests on them.
“The responsibility rest in all of you to reinforce the idea that drives every other party. We are going to hold every other party with issues, that is what drives politics and we are going to discuss those issues frontally”, he said adding that APC is known for long distance runners and that short distance runners will find their way out of the party.
Earlier in his remarks, Publicity Secretary of APC, Lagos State Mr. Joe Igbokwe who led the group said the image makers gathered in Lagos to synergise ahead of the 2015 general elections.
“We feel that by 2015, there is no way APC will not take over hence we need to prepare our self for the change, because we must deliver”, he said.
