POLITICS #KogiGovRace: 'Rethink NIGERIA' Charges PDP to Field Young Candidate in Kogi, Bayelsa

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been advised to field young candidates for the governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.


Rethink Nigeria, a youth group sympathetic to PDP, argued that the former ruling party is in need of redemption after losing the 2015 election.
“Many Nigerians see the party as that of looters and old crooks not to be trusted. The massive onslaught against the party by the new ruling party, APC is another factor responsible for the poor perception about the PDP,” the group noted in a statement.

It added that there is urgent need for PDP to be re-branded, suggesting that its National Working Committee, NWC, “has woken to the reality that Nigerians will no longer trust the same old politicians within its fold and as such they must evolve new ways to communicate, reach-out and get the support of the Nigerian people, by strategically positioning young people with good name to become the new faces of the party”.

Rethink Nigeria, which claimed that former president Goodluck Jonathan is in support of the move, said that young party members will be elected into its Board of Trustees and NWC at next year’s Extraordinary Congress Election when new officials of the party are to be elected.

“One of the greatest challenges the PDP has always had is the issue of imposition of candidates on the party which makes it impossible for young party members to secure party tickets or even have the courage to contest for elective positions. With the new development within the party, more young people will be able to contest for elective positions within the party. The immediate beneficiaries of this new policy of the party might be two young men within the party who are contesting to become governors of their respective states, Moses Siloko Siasia who is contesting to be governor of Bayelsa State and Mohammed Ali running to be governor of Kogi State,” it said.

Mohammed Ali, from Dekinah LGA is the former chairman of the Local government. He was the Secretary National Association of Kogi State Students NAKOS 2002-2004, then became the President of NAKOS from 2004-2005, former Special Adviser, Student Affairs to former governor Ibrahim Idris. He was elected as the Chairman of the Northern Local Government Forum which compromises of 419 LG Chairmen. He is a graduate of Bayero University, Kano. He is an Economist. He has a Masters Degree in Economics with option of Petroleum and Energy Economics.
Moses Siloko Siasia, from Sagabama LGA, is 35 years old and the Chairman of Mosilo Group, with huge investments in Engineering, Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Agro Processing and Project Management.
The Group is a wholly owned indigenous Company with strategic partnership with some of the world’s leading technical Companies. The Group has employed over 400 young people and has continued to up the ante in human capacity development locally, with offices in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and United States.
He was named as one of the 200 Young African Economic Leaders for Tomorrow by Choiseul, renowned French Institute in their 2014 ranking. Parisian institute describes Siasia as a young African leader who is reshaping the continent’s economic scene.
He is the Founder of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, a non-governmental organisation made up of primarily young, dynamic and upwardly mobile individuals with innovative ideas that is aiding Nigeria’s development. Siasia conceived the NYPF as a platform for the development of young professionals in Nigeria through quality educational programs, national and global networking and leadership opportunities, the group has united over 7million young professionals globally with presence in 15 countries.
Siasia is a lawyer by profession. He is running under the platform of the PDP and has attracted lots of grassroot support most especially the youths and women.




Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/pdp-should-field-young-candidates-in-bayelsa-kogi/