One of the major groups mobilizing support for the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Kaduna State, El-Rufai Volunteers For Change, has come up with its broad plan on how to actualize its dream of bringing the candidate to office by May 29, 2015.
The group which met at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday said that there can be no hiding place for the ruling PDP government in Kaduna State because people of the state have made up their mind to have a change .
Speaking in an interview after the meeting which took place at the Campaign office of the El-Rufai Campaign Organisation in Kaduna, the secretary of the group, David Ibrahim, stated that they have noticed the yearning of the people for change and this is one reason the group has strategically positioned itself to be part of this aspiration with a view to mobilizing the electorate in order to give effect to their desire during the 2015 general elections.
“We have put in place a lot of things in this group in order to bring to pass our aim of fulfilling people’s wish across the state. First, in Kaduna State generally we need change and we believe Mallam El-Rufai will bring us the change that the citizens of Kaduna State have been yearning for,” Ibrahim said. “We have therefore organized other groups that have the same mindset with us and this is the reason we come under one umbrella called El-Rufai Volunteers for Change. We have plans which we shall unveil for the public in the few remaining weeks before the general elections. Some of these will include our efforts to organize people and our supporters because we don’t want them to behave in any negative manner that will rubbish the good image APC has with its teeming supporters. We are particular about this. We are also coordinating people and sensitizing them as to their rights. We want the electorates to know their rights and go out on the day of election to cast their votes and ensure they guard their votes.”
As for how his group will gather numbers for the APC governorship candidate, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to ensure his victory, the Secretary said his group has been spreading its tentacles across the state, and down to the grassroots. “Within the organization we have spread our tentacles to every ward in Kaduna State. With this done, we have also mapped out our strategy on how to ensure that we bring in the numbers that will give all our candidate victory,” he said.
Also commenting on the activities of the group, the chairman of the Venue Committee of the El-Rufai Volunteers For Change, Umar Haira’u, said the journey of the group up to this point has been interesting, widespread and deep-rooted and for this reason the group will achieve its objective of massively mobilizing the people of the state to support the APC candidate during the election. “We started the group first on the basis of individuals who are interested in the aspirations of Mallam El-Rufai to be the governor of the state,”
Haira’u said. “Along the line we realize there is need for us to bring in other NGOs and groups that have showed their interests to assist Mallam in actualizing his dream. On the directives of the APC Campaign Council, we have since organized all other groups numbering about 160 or under this umbrella. We continue to expand by the day. At the moment, we have expanded to have all chairpersons of the APC in each local government area in the group.”
Explaining the relevance and role of the APC chairpersons in the group, Haira’u said the chairpersons have come to strengthen the group with the kind of reach and influence they have in their constituencies. “Their role is to expand the participation of volunteers because we realize that a major means of expanding the base of support for the El-Rufai Campaign Organization is by bringing in the APC chairpersons. This is because they already have on ground the tentacles and the structures. They will bring in more members to the volunteer group. So we have representation in all the LGAs in the state and this gives us better coverage.”
He explained further that the group has put in place its strategies on how to draw out the numbers for the election on behalf of the APC candidate by reaching out to all relevant groups across the state. “We have reached out to all organizations that are relevant and have the numbers across the state. These include tribal, religious and professional organizations. We believe these groups have massive supporters around them. So by coordinating and bringing them under one umbrella, we believe we will have wider coverage and massive numbers for our candidate. We equally have other measures by which we bring in more supporters, more hands, more loyalists that will assist in bringing in the numbers that our candidate needs to get into office after April 11, 2015,” he added.
