Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) has officially endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan in the forthcoming March 28 election as its presidential candidate.
The DPP also advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be realistic in the outcome of its test run of the card reader machine for Permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) and not to go ahead with it if problems were noticed during the test run.
Also speaking on the issue, the Presidential candidate of DPP, Otunba Owolabi Odebudo, who stepped down for President Jonathan, urged INEC during a press conference in Abuja, to assure Nigerians that the process of accrediting voters with the card reader machine would be completed in a shorter time. He also appealed to key players in the elections to ensure that the March 28 polls date was beyond alteration.
Otunba Odebudo, while re-affirming the position of its party in endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for the presidential race, said the decision was taken in the right direction in view of the President Jonathan’s noticeable achievements since he stepped into office.
The DPP candidate cited the Boko Haram insurgency plaguing North-East, which had been brought under control following President Jonathan’s interference and help from the international partners and various Institutions in the country and the improvement in the power sector.
He further observed that President Jonathan had been able to manage the fallouts from the combined impact of unstable crude price and the devaluation of the Naira on the economy.
He explained that having followed closely the campaign trails of all the presidential candidates that were still in the race with keen interest, admiration and confidence in President Jonathan candidacy remained intact, as he had shown calm in the face of persistent hostility.