Beneficiaries of the Federal government’s intervention programme, N-Power in Ekiti State have declared their support for the second term bid of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The beneficiaries, numbering over 11,000, praised President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government for mooting and implementing the policy that they said had provided safety net for many graduate youths.
They spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday when letters of enlistment were presented to another 8,000 beneficiaries that fell into the second phase of the intervention scheme in the state.
President of N-Power beneficiaries in Ekiti State, Mr. Dare Oladimeji, who spoke on behalf of his members, expressed happiness that the programme was not politically inclined, disclosing that many of their members are from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Oladimeji said: “We want to appreciate President Buhari for this initiative. This is the first programme that I knew was not political. It was not politically motivated, but was established to alleviate the sufferings of our youths.
“You don’t need to know any Senator, House of Representatives member or powerful politician before you are enlisted. I only applied online and my name featured as a beneficiary and since then I have not been denied of this right.
“We believe that if President Buhari continues beyond 2019, this programme will continue and many youths will still benefit and it was on this strength that we are declaring our support for him in 2019,” he said.
Taiwo Olatunbosun, APC State Publicity Secretary in Ekiti, said the public support displayed by the beneficiaries was an indication that Nigerian youths want President Buhari beyond 2019 in the saddle of governance.
Olatunbosun advised the State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, to key into the scheme by paying salaries and pensions as and when due to complement President Buhari’s giant strides in combating poverty among Nigerians.
The APC spokesman said: “This open declaration of support for President Buhari shows that Nigerians are appreciative of the APC-led Federal Government. Ekiti people didn’t mince words by converting this into action by electing Dr Kayode Fayemi as the next governor of our dear State.
“Whatever the detractors of this government said, Nigerian youths are ready to vote for President Buhari because of the way he has been waging wars against corruption, stabilizing our economy and fighting insurgency that crippled Nigerians under the PDP-led government,” Olatunbosun said.