President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said that despite the intimidation being mounted against members of the ruling party by opposition parties, no political party can beat the Peoples Democratic Party in the coming elections.
He said those who have not done anything have been intimidating the ruling party because the party has not been marketing itself.
The President spoke just as the Director-General of his campaign organisation, Senator Ahmadu Ali, said some foreign countries were opposed to Jonathan’s re-election bid because he signed the Anti Same-Sex Bill into law.
They both spoke during the unveiling of the PDP Ward Volunteer Scheme held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“I am convinced that up to this time, there is no party that can beat PDP. All we need is unity. There is no party that is formidable like PDP,” the President told the gathering that consisted of all PDP candidates from the state Houses of Assembly to the National Assembly.
Jonathan said PDP was not just the largest party in the country but also the only party that has members in all voting units across the country.
He said even if 10 political parties came together, they could not reach PDP’s level.
While saying that the PDP had done well over time, Jonathan challenged the opposition to match the party on performances of their governors state-by-state.
For instance, Jonathan said only state governments under the leadership of the PDP had been able to provide functional airports in their state capitals.
He also said the number of state universities established by PDP states were more than those of the opposition.
He however regretted that despite the performance of the PDP, the opposition also intimidate PDP members even in their (PDP) states.
Jonathan said the party would not allow the opposition to win at the national level.
He said, “They (the opposition) intimidate us even in states where we have PDP governors.
“We will not allow those who are not up to us in terms of performance to continue to intimidate us.
“At the national level, we cannot compare our standards with theirs, because they have not had the experience and we will not give them the opportunity because I know they will not do well.
“PDP is the only party that brings about peace in this country. And I always say that when you see people talking and you see the bitterness in their hearts, you see the frustration, the anger, and you see them as people who are already feeling guilty.
“If you don’t have a forgiving heart, if you don’t have a clean heart, you cannot rule Nigeria, because you cannot give what you don’t have.
“From 1999 till date, the PDP has done well. If they (the opposition) parade one state to show their performance, we will provide our own state to counter them. PDP states have done more.
“We must collectively project PDP and sell the party to the electorates.”
He said in continuation of preparation for the elections, he would meet with PDP candidates at all levels starting from governorship candidates on Monday.
He said he would also meet with National Assembly candidates before the end of the week while the meeting with the states Houses of Assembly candidates might hold after the first round of election.
