Former Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Mr. David Paradang, has expressed confidence that the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, would defeat other candidates at the polls in the February 25th presidential election.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with THISDAY in Jos, Paradang said that “Atiku is going to win resoundingly; I campaigned for him in 2019, and I know he won. It was taken away from him. He was robbed of it in 2019. But in 2023, all the permutations are pointing to the fact that Atiku is going to win.
“If we want one Nigeria, it’s Atiku; he represents the broad spectrum of the Nigerian man, not boxed to a corner, well exposed and experienced in the role of government that requires working with everybody, giving them a chance. I can assure you that Atiku will win, come February 25, 2023.”
He claimed that Atiku was short-changed in 2019. “Then, there were incident forms and results sheets being given without technological validation. We have learnt from the costly mistakes of the past. Now, our votes will count. You can no longer sit down at the polling units and share unused ballot papers, or take result sheets and change the figures and go to announce at the collation centres,” he said.
According to Paradang, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has learnt its lessons from the Osun experience. “We thank God that the BVAS has been tested and we know the areas that need improvement and fine-tuning. Osun experience was a very good wake-up call. Party agents must follow step by step.”
He said that the attention being currently given by local and international observers is high because they know the implication of getting things right in the election.
Paradang also said that the “Obidient Movement,” would not affect the PDP, adding that the movement is made up of people that have not really been in politics for long.
He said: “It is a movement and not a political party; they have the zeal and drive, but running a political process is a very deliberate thing.
“It is a very good movement, but it needs to grow and develop some roots. 2023 election is not for the ‘Obidients;’ they are still starting the process; they need to mature and bear fruits later.”
Commenting on the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Ahmed Tinubu, Paradang said that “I will not lose sleep over Tinubu. We give it to him that he has built people significantly that are talented. But everything has time; once the time passes, it becomes a problem. Now is not the time for him.
“If it were 2015, it would have been great for him to give it a shot. 2019 would have been fair too, but not 2023. He cannot make me lose sleep.”
He said that Tinubu’s choice of Governor Simon Lalong as the director general of his campaign would not give any advantage to him, adding that the records Lalong has set in Plateau State could not earn him electoral victory.
“The average Plateau man’s identity and interest have suffered significantly under Lalong’s government, and his emergence as a director general is a misadventure,” Parandang said.
