Former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, declared that the North-East geopolitical zone was ready to vote en masse for the All Progressives Congress (APC) standard-bearer, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday.

Making his first public appearance in the APC rally since the December 9, 2014 APC presidential primaries held in Lagos, Atiku said the zone was taking its destiny in its hands by voting for Buhari to bring an end to its sufferings.

According to him, the North-East zone had been subjected to total neglect, leading to abject poverty among the people of the zone, adding that there were no good roads, hospitals, among others, in the zone.

He, then, called on the people to vote out the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and cast their votes for Buhari and other APC candidates in the forthcoming elections.

Atiku, however, told Buhari that he had a lot of work to do in the zone if he won the presidential election, saying “if you win, you have a lot of wok to do in the North-East. We have no good hospitals, roads, schools. In fact, we are seriously underdeveloped.

“Please, do us a favour if you win, by solving the problems we are facing in the North-East. We will continue to support you as we are doing now.”

Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, also noted that majority of the youth in the zone had no job, adding that the rate of unemployment in the zone was overwhelming.

The governor, therefore, urged the people of the zone to vote en masse for APC, saying that “if you vote for APC, our sufferings will come to an end. We have to vote PDP out at all levels.”

Addressing the rally, Buhari declared that the problems facing the zone were not only restricted to it, but they were Nigeria’s problems, calling on the people to vote massively for APC.

According to Buhari, the ruling PDP had subjected Nigerians to untold hardships in the last 16 years, declaring that most of the national monument had been run aground by the ruling party.

He urged Nigerians to come out and maintain the peace during and after the elections, saying “don’t carry any weapons to the polling units and don’t let anyone intimidate you.”

•Adapted from a Nigerian Tribune report. Photo shows Atiku.