An Address Delivered By Chief (Dr) Chekwas Okorie, National Chairman Of United Progressive Party (UPP), At The Occasion Of A Courtesy Visit To The President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari By The National Leadership Of The Party, On Tuesday, 5th May, 2015 At Abuja
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We are grateful to you for sparing the time out of your very busy schedule to receive us on this Courtesy Visit. We wish to recall that we were the first Political Party that participated in the 2015 Presidential Election to write you a formal letter of Congratulation shortly after out-going President Goodluck Jonathan had put a telephone call to you to accept the outcome of the Presidential Election, in which you received the overwhelming mandate of majority of Nigerians to take over the reigns of power as the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Your Excellency Sir, this courtesy visit by the National Leadership of our great Party the United Progressive Party (UPP), is to formally express our unflinching and unalloyed solidarity and unconditional resolve to collaborate with your government in the overall interest and welfare of Nigerians during your tenure.
On a personal note, I wish to place on record that this is the very first time that I am participating in or leading a Political Party to make this kind of commitment to any Government since Nigeria returned to democratic practice in 1999. This commitment we are making to you here is well thought-out and made out of conviction.
In the course of the campaigns, we maintained a respectable focus, with high level of civility and decorum in all our pronouncements and slogans. We took principled positions on issues that arose in the process leading to the election whether it was on the issue of the CARD READERS, or POSTPONPONEMENT OF THE ELECTION DATES, but it turned out that our Party, UPP and APC your Party were similarly inclined on those issues without any previous understanding. This underscores the like-mindedness of the two Progressives Political Parties.
Your articulation of Nigeria’s major economic, social and political problems and how to address them by your government are almost in tandem with our Presidential Manifesto which we called REVOLUTIONARY AGENDA.
Your Excellency Sir, by the outcome of the Presidential Election, UPP is in the Opposition but by this hand of fellowship which we are formally extending to you today, our brand of Opposition will be characterized mostly by constructive engagement rather than public posturing in the Political arena with a view to scoring cheap political points.
We are aware like most discerning Nigerians that you are fully prepared to square up to the challenges ahead, but permit us to suggest that your Government should among other things spare no effort to recover all recoverable of our common patrimony in private hands, whether in Nigeria or abroad, which has been illegally or illegitimately acquired. UPP shall join in the vanguard to mobilize public support for you in this effort. In making this suggestion, we are convinced that recovering as little as twenty-five percent of our common wealth in private hands will go a long way in assisting you to fulfill most of your campaign promises to the Nigerian people, to the glory of God.
We urge you to declare a state of emergency in the power sector as soon as you are sworn into office. This sector is fundamental and key to the successful delivery of your agenda for the Nigerian people.
On a final note, we further urge you to take the issue of Electoral Reforms to a much higher level, in order to continue to deepen our democratic practice and ethos.
We pray the Almighty God to grant you a successful tenure as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Amen.
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CHIEF (DR.) CHEKWAS OKORIE
National Chairman (UPP)
