Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, will lead other dignitaries of the party to Ilorin, Kwara state on Thursday as the first PDP presidential campaign in the North Central geopolitical zone.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday, the director general of the PDP presidential campaign council in Kwara state, Dr. Mahmud Babatunde Ajeigbe, said that issues surrounding the use of the venue for the event, Metropolitan Square, Ilorin, had been resolved with the state government's approval.

He also said that security agencies in the state had assured the party of adequate maintenance of law and order, adding that supporters of the party are ready to receive the party's flag-bearer to the state.

Dr. Ajeigbe, who raised the alarm that voting along the ethnic line in the forthcoming general elections will put Nigeria in danger, said that the current challenges being faced by Nigeria do not have ethnic colouration.

“Present challenges in the country are beyond ethnic consideration in election matters. Hunger and inflation in the country do not care if you're Igbo, Tiv, Yoruba, Ibibio or Hausa. What we should look at is who has the capacity, determination, interest, history or track record to deliver on solving the nation's myriad of challenges we are facing.

“Some people may talk about the level of education or what somebody did in a state, but the federal government system is different from the system in states of the federation. Nigeria needs that person who must be able to understand the dynamics needed to resolve issues in a multi-dimensional country like Nigeria. Voting across ethnic lines means that the problems would remain the same or get worse, more so, it's also dangerous. It could encourage ethnic divide that had become a danger to Nigeria”, he said.

The PDP presidential campaign council, who blamed the present administration for a high level of insecurity, corruption and poor economy, said that “It's rather saddening that close to eight years later we are worse off than we were in 2015.

“As we all know the current APC government has been in power for over seven years now. They rode to power on the promise to address three critical areas: the ECONOMY, INSECURITY AND CORRUPTION.

“It becomes more evident that with the current level of ineptitude and the incompetence of the APC regime, the PDP has much more to offer Nigerians in terms of governance experience in managing a diverse country like Nigeria. We acknowledge that there has been a spiral decline in major economic indices, unprecedented poverty levels, worsening unemployment situations, increased levels of insecurity and embarrassing levels of corruption.

“Nigeria needs to be rescued and put on an improved trajectory of growth and we believe that the PDP can carry this mission which has become inevitable. It is incontrovertible that our candidate H E Atiku Abubakar is a versatile and highly experienced politician who has the capacity to take this country out of its current quagmire”.