Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku has vowed that the opposition party in Nasarawa State, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP will defeat the ruling party, All Progressive Party, APC in the forthcoming general elections in 2015.
The Minister made the declaration yesterday, during the formal reception and celebration of his national honour award, Commander of the order of the Niger, CON at Radio House, Abuja.
Maku who expressed gratitude to the President for the honour done him, said the award will propel him to work harder for the nation and Nasarawa State.
The Minister who lamented the pace of development in Nasarawa State said time has come for change and maintained that nothing would stop him from bring his experience to bear towards ensuring the successful outing of the PDP in the state in the 2015 general elections.
He commended the PDP members in the State Assembly for keeping faith with the PDP and urged them to join him in sealing victory for the party come 2015 elections.
‘‘I thank the President for the opportunity he gave me to serve Nigeria and for recognizing my effort all these years. My award is a grace of God and I promise to put in more effort to serve my country.
‘‘I also thank the Nasarawa State House of Assembly for keeping the flag flying and refused to defect to the ruling party. PDP is the reason for my rise in politics; I will continue to be committed to the party, especially in the coming elections.
‘‘We will struggle to defeat APC in Nasarawa State in the next general elections. We will end tribalism and senseless killings in Nasarawa state. That is why I am in politics, to bring peace and development to the people of Nasarawa State.
‘‘We shall work hard until we achieve success. This is the first award I am receiving because it is not all awards that are award. This award for me is the beginning of life. I will use the award to serve Nigeria, even better because Nigeria is the hope of Africa and without Nigeria the entire African continent will be in slavery,’’ Maku added.
In remarks, a former Senator from Nasarawa State, Sen. Ahmed Wadada described the Maku award as an honour well deserved. He said Maku had worked very hard to serve his state and Nigeria in general to deserve the national award, despite coming from a poor background.
He urged the Minister to look upwards and see the award as a challenge to do better in his national callings.