An aspirant for the National Chairmanship position of the Peoples Democratic Party and a former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, will commence a nationwide campaign for the position on November 2, 2017.
While informing the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, through a letter dated October 31, 2017, Daniel said he would be going on the tour ahead of the National Convention of the party slated for December 9, 2017.
According to him: “The purpose of the tour is to sensitize the people about the efficacy of our party while also meeting the delegates and Leaders of our Party Nationwide.
“The tour will commence in Sokoto where we will pay a courtesy call on the Sultan and seize the opportunity to celebrate with him on the 11th anniversary of his coronation.”
After a visit to Sokoto, where he is expected to meet with the Sultan, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, Daniel will move with his campaign train to Gusau in Zamfara State on the morning of November 3 and proceed to Katsina in Katsina State in the afternoon of the same day.
Daniel, whom many have applauded for his ambition, would touch down in Kano, Kano State for the campaign on the afternoon of November 4, before berthing in Dutse in Jigawa State in the evening of the same day.
Daniel will be in Gombe in Gombe State in the afternoon of November 8 before he would touch down at Yola in Adamawa State in the evening of the same day.
According to the timetable of the accomplished politician, Jalingo in Taraba State would be his next port of call on November 9, while he would be campaigning in Lokoja, Kogi State on November 10.
The campaign timetable has it that Daniel will travel to Minna, Niger State and Kaduna in Kaduna State on November 11, while he would be campaigning in Bauchi, Bauchi State and Jos in Plateau State on November 13.
Daniel, who ruled Ogun State for eight years from 2003 to 2015 with enviable achievements, would move his campaign train to Makurdi in Benue State and Lafia in Nassarawa State on November 14, while he would travel to Maiduguri in Borno State and Damaturu, Yobe State on November 16 to meet with the party’s faithfuls on why he should be their next National Chairman.
The campaign tour continues on November 17 in Birni Kebbi, Kebbi State before starting the Eastern tour on November 21 in Imo State in the morning and Umuahia in Abia State in the afternoon.
The tour would continue on November 22 in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State in the morning before it would be rounded off in Enugu, Enugu State in the afternoon.
Daniel would resume the tour in Awka, the capital of Anambra State, in the morning of November 23 before moving to Asaba in Delta State in the afternoon of the same day.
The campaign train would visit the South South State of Edo and campaign in Benin in the morning of November 24 before moving to Akure in Ondo State in the afternoon of the same day.
Daniel would round off the campaign with a visit to the South West State of Ekiti in Ado Ekiti in the morning of November 25 before the campaign would hold in another South West State of Osun in Osogbo in the afternoon of the same day.
Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, would host the campaign team on November 26 before the team would proceed to Lagos, the Centre of Excellence, on November 27, while Ilorin in Kwara State would be the base for the campaign of the versatile politician and engineer on November 29.
The timetable stated further that Daniel and his campaign train would proceed to Yenagoa in Bayelsa State and Port Harcourt in Rivers State on November 30 before travelling to Uyo in Akwa Ibom State on December 1.
Calabar in Cross River State would play host to Daniel and his team on December 2, while the campaign of the cerebral politician would be rounded off in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, his home state, with a rally on December 3.
Speaking during his official declaration for the position in Abuja on October 18, Daniel told the gathering, which comprised mainly politicians and journalists, that his ultimate goal was to work towards the victory of the party in the 2019 general elections and in all other elections in between.
He said: “To achieve this, I am prepared to work with all leaders of our party, various interest groups and individuals.
“In the last few weeks, I have gone round visiting many of our leaders and stakeholders. I believe that I have sufficiently interacted with many of our party leaders, elders and members to have identified various fault lines which needed closing up so that we can return to the ideals and vision of our founding fathers.
“One of my focus as the National Chairman is to bring back many of our party men who have left.”
On the state of the nation, Daniel stated that most Nigerians today have come to recognise that the PDP midwifed democracy for Nigeria and that the country fared better under the political party.
He said: “Regrettably, the people did not vote out our party for want of performance. We lost out because we miscalculated on certain aspects of our politics; outside the management of the nation’s economic resources.
“We failed to ask some critical questions needed for planning. For instance, when President Muhammadu Buhari in 2011 as the candidate of the CPC got less than 5,000 votes in Abia State, we did not ask why.
“When in 2011, the 15 states that Muhammadu Buhari had the least votes came from Southern Nigeria, we did not ask why. When the trend repeated itself in 2015, who asked why?”
It will be recalled that Daniel had visited the likes of General TY Danjuma (rtd.); former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.); ex-Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau; and former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Other people that Daniel has consulted on his ambition included a former Governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema; and former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
