Prest urges politicians to build strong grassroots followership

A politician, Tony Prest, said on Tuesday in Lagos that strong grassroots followership was an antidote against rigging of elections.
Prest told newsmen that what politicians needed most was to build confidence in the electorate, who would protect their votes.
He said politicians, apart from making impact ionn the lives of their supporters, must always keep their electoral promises and shun corruption to build trust.
Prest noted that the country’s electoral process had been transformed with voters being empowered.
“So it has become very important to always win their confidence,” he told newsmen on Tuesday.
According to him, with the confidence of the electorate, the era of having godfathers to win elections will become a thing of the past.
“We can use our voter’s cards to decide how we want our future and the future of our families to be,” he said.
Prest, who said he has his eyes on the Delta State Government House in 2015, explained that the people would follow a leader who was accountable and could harness available resources to improve their lot.
He said that Delta State had the potential to become the petro-chemical hub, not only in Nigeria, but ultimately in West Africa.
According to him, it also has the capacity to become the most Information and Communications Technology-enabled state in Nigeria.
He said that the feat could be achieved by laying fibre optic cables across main cities in the state, which would automatically make calls through land lines cheap, with attendant benefits on communication, trade and commerce.
He said: “My vision for Delta is for a secure environment where people and industry can develop and flourish like first world countries.”
Prest, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, noted that Delta State had huge resources with which it could be transformed into a more prosperous state.
“We have seen this done in Singapore and Dubai and we can together do it here too,” he added.
According to Prest, the state has a lot of potential in agriculture among other areas, which can be harnessed to engender more economic development.
He noted that Nigeria had talents who could transform the country and develop its infrastructure to international standards.