 The People's Democratic Party PDP declared on Wednesday that Saturday's presidential election will provide an opportunity for Nigerians to pass a resounding verdict on the failures of the administration of the all-progressive Congress APC after eight years. Addressing a press conference in Abuja PDP's National Publicity Secretary Dable Olau Mawrbaz said, the presidential election is about the issues that affect Nigerians on a daily basis and a simple comparison of statistics from 1999 to 2015 under the PDP and from 2015 to 2023 under the APC. The PDP spokesperson are also noted that matters were compounded by debt accumulation of the APC government from 12 trillion in 2015 to a staggering 44.06 trillion today. On their plans for the elections were being joined live by Frank Shribu, he's the special adviser on public communications to Atiku and Okowa campaign organization. Mr Shribu, it's so good to have you join us. Good evening. Great, I'm good. I want to go straight into the thick of it. Now we know that we're just about, after today, it's just 24 hours through the elections and the average person is looking at all the political parties and saying if they're crossing their tees and dotting their eyes, but let's start with the recent poll that tipped your candidate to be leading. I mean, that's the first that he's leading on. Most of the time we see the Labour Party leading or sometimes the APC, but this is the first that we've seen that your candidate is leading. What made that happen? And what do you think the PDP candidate has done that has been a departure from the norm that's taken him all the way to the top? Yeah, what he did was very simple, clear and unambiguous. He never moved from church to church. He never moved from mosque to mosque to run campaigns based on religion. So he is to focus on his campaign of unifying energy and his propelling something that is using our dynamic diversity as an important part, irrespective of where we come from, irrespective of religion. And that was why he was delivered to this campaign. Speaking to all Nigerians in respect of religion, we didn't visit churches, not out of rest, the body of practice, is it more? Oh my goodness, I think that we're having connection issues with him. Mr Shaiibol, we lost your connection for a second there. Can you hear me? It tells you somebody who is the face of unification in Nigeria, who means what he is talking about. And Nigeria's sort can see through his message. Mr Shaiibol, we're having connection issues with you if you can hear me. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Yes, we lost the connection with you for a second there. Can you hear me now? Mr Shaiibol, can you hear me? All right, we'll take a quick break and bring you back on. Let's fix that. We're still being joined by Frank Shaiibol, SAO on Public Communication at Tikokowa Campaign Organization. Before we lost that connection with you, you were trying to tell us that your candidate has been more deliberate in his campaign as opposed to others who go to places of worship. What is exactly wrong with going to places of worship? No, what is wrong with going to places of worship with the fact that we are a multi-religious society in Nigeria? And we are supposed to meet over 200 and something ethnic groups. So we have to use our dynamic diversity as a unifying factor. We are not meant to begin to use religion as a weapon of communication, particularly as it relates to campaign for electoral office. And as it relates principally to even campaign to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Because we have never been as divided as we are today in Nigeria. And because of that, we have to do everything possible. Anybody who wants to be the President of Nigeria should not campaign on ethnic lines, on religious lines, on tribal lines, on primordial sentiments. We should be focused on what we intend to do. And that is one of the core message. One of the deliberate steps that Tiku Agobakar took in the course of our campaign that they keep the key into. And another major thing is that, oh, some persons started by the fact that, oh, Tiku is 76 and all of that. Also, when we were able to educate them at an age, it was not the parameter for measuring capitalism. And he has proven by moving his convention to over 35 states across the country, except rivers, which he could not go to, into his security and threats to life and all of that. That he is still measuring stakeholders. That notwithstanding, he has a robust work plan which is entitled his cabinet with Nigerians. And in that work plan, he encapsulated and captured about five thematic areas when electorate office is going to deal with. Beginning from unity of the country and informing the government of national unity when he left it to bring about, you know, not just when you want to unify, it's not just unification, just by paper or on paper, but by trying to make sure that all political appointments cut across bone where every section of the country is represented. So you cannot talk of unity without quality, with equal and quality representation by all sectors of the country. Every tribe is important, no matter how small. Every human being is important. So far, the person is Nigerian. You are important. And that was one of the core messages. The other one was based on security, security of life from problems. Only yesterday morning, I lost one of my staff. You know, I'm a school owner. I'm a teacher. And my staff stepped out of her house two days ago, two metres away from her door. A young man who obviously must be under the influence of substance abuse, or overdose of substance, or whatever, we don't know, held her by the neck and stabbed her on the lap. And disappeared into thin air. He didn't take her phone. He didn't take her bag. He didn't collect money from her. So obviously, you know that this one is under some kind of influence. And that is why we have been very busy. We have been reminding Nigerians that this is not a time where you contemplate voting any candidate based on geography. This is not a time where you contemplate voting any candidate into a history of any connection, you know, with any substance abuse, trafficking, or in whatever sense, or heroin, or cocaine, or anything really trouble-related thing. Because our country, we are at very perious times. Our young people are just littered on the streets. They can go to school, no jobs for them, and we have over 20 million out of school children at this time. 20 million out of school, 20 million out of school children is too much a number, too much a figure. That's a figure that is more than certain countries in Africa put together, you know. So it is, it is, it is, it is. There's something that is very dreadful. And we believe very firmly that at this point you need someone who is very good. Someone who knows the importance of education. Someone who knows the importance of manpower development that can take up work. Who has been involved in the rolling of schools in the last 25 years. Or till the time he established the American University of Nigeria situate in Biola. Or like other candidates who would even move schools on legitimate school plots, like the legacy of polytechnic, that was moved from somewhere in K2 to somewhere in Ligorodu, a support in Lagos. In convenience, these students are fed and decided to acquire the place and set up a private enterprise on the same property. Those are not the kind of leadership we desire for this country. We desire leadership that will be proactive. Leadership that will be representative of the yanis of the young people. Education that should be representative of the yanis of the young people. Where they will not just go to school to read A for B for ball, C for C, D for down. But they will go to school and learn and acquire skills that will better their tomorrow where they can diversify. And like I think who told me some time ago that this interaction with people is a time when certificates will not even be as important as what he called certificates. He made a coinage. He called it certificates. And I said, Daddy, what do you mean? He said, look, a lot of young people are doing very well in areas that are not able to study, areas that are not able to invest in educationally at the level of the university. And that is why, because they took time to go into what they called self and personal development and went into learning skills. They had the opportunity to acquire a certain skills and that is what they are deploying. And that is the kind of leadership you are talking about. And he told me, in one of our rallies, he told the young people when he interfaced with them, he said, look, I am atiku amibaka. My desire for the young people in Nigeria is to raise them to a point where they will not just be dependent on our oil, but they will be dependent on what they can do. That is why he wants to incentivise the private sector, the moving industry and so many other industries. The women were able to take the young people out of the street. It will reduce insecurity. If you notice, the number of people they have arrested so far in the last seven and a half years, the young people below the age of 35-40 have numerical preponderance over people above 35. You want to tell me? So what he represents is that a majority of our young people need to be gainfully engaged because if failure to do so we bridge insecurity. And such a situation will be occasioned by lack of self-confidence, poor image perception and an already identification. That is why the article message has been able to coordinate among both the young and the old and that's why we are very confident that this election is a referendum on the seven and a half years of the APC, seven and a half years of mal-administration, seven and a half years of hunger, seven and a half years of tears, seven and a half years of blood littered on the streets of Nigeria. I want to come in, Mr Chai, but just give me a minute. Let's talk about the elections in itself, I mean it's just around the corner. It's one thing to campaign for the elections, it's also another thing for people to show up for this election. Now a group of people from the North have reached out, put out a statement saying that the North votes would be split because there is an article in the election and there's a Qwankweso and they're saying, an article has to step down for Qwankweso so that the Northern votes can stay and count more as it normally does as opposed to having two people from the North who would split the votes. Do you care to comment on that? Well I don't know it depends on, you really mentioned the group of people who made certain illusions of who are they dreaming but if they are people who are qualified to enjoy a response from me, why not? But because you didn't mention them I don't think it would be completely out of place for me to talk about the beautiful thing is the fact that even Qwankweso himself knows that this election is a two-horse race between a Ticwagubakan and the candidate of the ATC who are suddenly capitulated into the opposition class who have been forced into the position party because of the failure of their government and their own leadership. They have been the one now crying they are the one who have been shouting they are the one who have been casting as passions on their own president president of their party you know they are questioning the policies of their own party a party where their candidate has been a leader he has been a leader of their party they conceived the concept of the Naira Swab a Naira redesign it was conceived by them it was given back to by the ATC by the ATC and it has seen a day like unfortunately for them they didn't know that you see Nigeria they met in 2015 we have in 2023 the Nigerians we have now are a set of people who have been involved they are a set of people who have seen hunger they are a set of people who have been tearing they are a set of people who have seen blood so these Nigerians have resisted and rejected them and because they are lost they are in quarantine they don't know what to do they don't know how to go they don't know how to proceed so the first thing they did was that their candidate went to somewhere in Abelkuta in Auguste and he said look the policy of Mr President is targeted at himself but not even limited to the first strategy that started over 9 to 10 months ago so we replied him in one breath that look it is possible that even the any day is when he decides to stop sleeping with him he will blame Atikwa Huwbakan Atikwa for the records Atikwa Huwbakan has not been in office since 2007 he has been a free man he has been a free man he has no immunity some will even throw more throw stones at him and say oh the man is corrupted this is that a man who has no immunity he is corrupted between 2017 days no cuts in the land has subjected him to any form of trial neither has he been convicted for any form of corruption but the beautiful thing is the people have decided the people have rejected them they are aware they have been rejected and what makes you think what makes you think that these people that you think have suffered from the APC who have also one way or the other pointed fingers at the PDP also for one way or the other a male administration one of the reasons why the APC came into power in the first place was because they rejected the PDP what makes you think that these people are going to run to watch their candidates and why should the Averitt Nigerian vote for former vice president Atikwa Huwbakan the Averitt Nigerian will vote for anybody who has the right head sitting on the right shoulder knows that the right person to do this job at this moment when Nigeria is divided and polarized is Atikwa Huwbakan apart from that it's an incident speak for itself they feel the first place I am in a huja you are in Lagos how are we communicating how am I able to appear on your television station we are using internet facilities we are using my phone before now until the liberalisation of the teleconsector led by this excellency Atikwa Huwbakan when president of mass media came to power with Atikwa's vice president we wouldn't have been able to do what we are doing now I would have gone to fly to Lagos to be able to appear on your program but today here am I in a buja sitting in the comfort of my small office and I am able to speak to you I am able to appear on your television station and the majority of our people all the Nigerians are watching you live from your station this is one of the feasible things tangible that came to the man Atikwa Huwbakan some will say when he talks about privatisation oh he is going to sell in Nigeria or some of an asset to his friends and colleagues we have so many telecommunications companies in Nigeria I will find himself the governor of Cardinal States an APC governor in the Bureau of Public Enterprises that was in charge of privatisation process in Nigeria it is documented in his work in a well documented book the accidental public servant he stated clearly and in all ambiguous steps that Atikwa never interfered with the process of privatisation and neither did he recommend anyone anyone for that matter for any public asset to be sold to him so Atikwa is prepared for the job he came even before he put up the form for the presidential election he came with the working dog he came with the plan none of these candidates is as prepared as Atikwa Huwbakan he is experienced he is able he is capable he does not talk he is coherent he does not raise his hands when he is singing national anthem he does not talk about Balabu and all of that we have to go but quickly do you have any concerns and does your candidates have any concerns for Saturday we have had pockets of violence here and they are in closing because we do not have time I have just 30 seconds what are the concerns and what should the average voter be looking out for Mr Shuaibu can you hear me we are going to try to get him back in a few seconds because we need to hear what the PDP has for the average voter Mr Shuaibu can you hear me please I think guys can we have Mr Shuaibu's audio so that we can hear what he has to say finally Frank can you hear me Mr Shuaibu can you hear me oh well it's unfortunate we are unable to get his audio but Frank Shuaibu is the Special Advisor on Public Communication at Atikwa Kawha campaign organisation we want to thank him for being part of the conversation if you can hear me good luck on the elections on the 25th of February 2023 my name is Mary Annacol and that's the show tonight we'll be back tomorrow as we open our election studios getting ready for the elections on Saturday the 25th of February have a good evening