Dr John Ayuba, running mate to Mr Isah Ashiru, the  PDP Governorship candidate of  Kaduna State, has described Permanent Voters Card (PVC) as the key to inclusive governance in the state.

Ayuba, a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, said this in Kaduna during an interactive session with Southern Kaduna Journalists Forum.

He called on the people to come out en mass to register for their cards as very critical to deciding elective positions in the 2023 General Elections.

He said that the candidature of Ashiru provided the opportunity for inclusive governance that would ensure equal opportunity for every resident of the state, irrespective of religion and ethnicity.

He explained that the Southern Kaduna people got stuck with Ashiru because of his strong connection with the people of the area and his touch with rural communities.

He said that the PDP under Ashiru, if given the opportunity, would operate an open governance that would be inclusive and gender sensitive.

“Ashiru was part of the success stories of Sen. Ahmed Makarfi era from 1999 to 2007, who worked hard to close the divide between northern and southern parts of the state.

“He has maintained his ties with the people of Southern Kaduna, and we have confidence that he has our interest at heart and will work for the interest of all in the state.

“We will work to improve our voting strength in southern part of the state and push for the support of the PDP to deliver good and inclusive governance to people.

“We are confident that he will build bridges to connect the people of the state to together and work as a united front for socio-economic development of the state,” he said.

He said 65 per cent of the voters were youths and urged the journalists to galvanise the people to support the party because of its principle of fairness and inclusive governance.

Mr Ango Bally of Invicta FM who spoke on behalf of the forum, an interest group, said that the objective of the meeting was to familiarise with the deputy governorship candidate.

Bally congratulated Ayuba, from Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of the state, on being picked as the running mate to Ashiru and urged him to represent the Southern Kaduna people well if elected to office.

He said that while the people were yearning for change, the party must demonstrate seriousness to take over the political power and provide quality representation.

Mr Luka Binniyat of Epoch Times, said that the people would be willing to support the PDP, but it was yet to convince the people that it was ready to restle power from the ruling APC.

Binniyat said that the party needed to come out strongly and demonstrate the capacity to take power and deliver good governance.

He advised the PDP as the strong opposition to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to up their game otherwise they might lose the 2023 elections again.

Mr Bomba Dauda, Publisher of Gurara Accord, pointed out that the southern Kaduna people gave over 500,000 votes to the PDP in the 2019 General Elections, while the northern zone polled only 263,3440 votes for the party.

Dauda said that to win the 2023 election, the governorship candidate needed to mobilise votes from his constituency to match what the Southern Kaduna people were doing for the party. (NAN)