Tag: Campaign Promises

APC chieftain congratulates newly-elected council officials, urge them to fulfill promises

A chieftain of the APC, Prince Felix Awofisayo, has urged newly elected chairmen and councillors in Osun to fulfill their campaign promises to the people of the state.

Awofisayo, who is Chairman of APC Elders Forum In Ife Central, gave the advice while speaking with newsmen on Monday in Ile-Ife.

He noted that the contestant had made a lot of pledges during their campaigns and charged them to fulfill their promises for the people to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

According to him, people who elected them want continuity and accountability in the political system.
“Those that are lucky to be elected should carry their wards and constituencies along by touching the lives of the electorate.

“They should not seize the opportunity to amass wealth, but should leave a good legacy behind for citizens to gain the dividends of democracy,” he charged.

Awofisayo commended the voters, especially those committed to the ruling party, for their massive turnout and peaceful conduct during Saturday’s council polls in the state.

“Youths should rally round the goverment of the day for continuity of governance and continued development in the state.

“If they have any grievance, they should pass it across to the appropriate quarters rather than causing mayhem in the society, for there’s no gain in it,” he stated.

October 17, 2022
We’ve delivered on our campaign promises to Ekiti people – Fayemi

Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti has said that his administration in the last four years delivered on its campaign mantra to restore the values of Ekiti people.

He said his administration had also laid the foundation for sustainable development.

Fayemi stated this in Ikere-Ekiti on Tuesday during his “Thank You” tour of the Ekiti-South Senatorial District, as part of the activities marking the end of his tenure.

The governor, while enumerating some of the achievements recorded by his administration especially in the district, said that the legacies would be sustained by the incoming administration.

He maintained that his administration performed well in the areas of education, human capital development, health, social security, social amenities and infrastructural development in all the senatorial districts of the state.

“It is easy to forget that when we embarked upon this journey four years ago, Ekiti was still in the dungeon.

“We had a lot of challenges and we promised to restore the value of our people and reclaim the land for progress and development.

“I believe that four years down the line we have discharged that duty to the best of our ability.

“I think we can thick the box in all of the areas in which we pledged to make life better for our people whether in education, human capital development,“ he said.

Fayemi said his administration upgraded the College of Education to the University of Education, Science and Technology and named it after Elder Bamidele Olumilua.

He said the upgrade was to complement the state, federal and private universities in Ekiti.

The governor described the airport project as extensive and said the “Knowledge Zone“ linked to it would in future constitute an Airport City.

“This is because of a lot of development that will happen there will be to the benefit of the state.

Fayemi, while thanking the people of the state for their support, noted that the privilege to serve as governor gave him the chance to become the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and President, Forum of Regions of Africa (FRAS).

“Gratitude to our people in Ekiti State, particularly to the people of Southern Senatorial District.

“The people of the South Senatorial District have been good and gracious to us as a government and they have been good to us as a party.

“If we checked the result of the last election, you will see that our governor-elect received overwhelming support from the southern part of the state.

Mr Sunday Filani, a representative from Ikere Local Government Area, in his goodwill message, thanked the governor for the achievements of his administration.

He listed the upgrading of the College of Education, Ikere, to a degree-awarding university and the construction of Adelogun Bridge as some of the unprecedented achievements in the area.

Newsmen reports that representatives from the other council areas also took time to enumerate the administration’s achievements in their domains.

The event was attended by the wife of the governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi, Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, The Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr Funminiyi Afuye and the Ekiti Govenor-Elect, Biodun Oyebanji and his wife, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji.

The Deputy Governor-Elect, Mrs Monisade Afuye and the Ekiti Chairman of the All Progressives Congress party (APC), Mr Paul Omotosho, were in attendance.

Others were Olowuro of Orun-Ekiti, Oba Aderounmu Adewumi; Olukere of Ikere-Ekiti Oba Ganiyu Obasoyin and other government officials and party members.

September 28, 2022
For The Records: 30 things Buhari promised Nigerians in second term

The keenly contested presidential election between the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari and that of his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar is long over.

Nigeria’s electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has since declared Muhammadu Buhari of the APC winner of the presidential poll, though Atiku Abubakar and his party, PDP are challenging the results.

However, while the election season lasted, politicians including the frontline presidential candidates appealed to the voters with different campaign promises.

These campaign promises, particularly those made by President Buhari and the APC have been documented and released by the International Press Centre (IPC).

The non-governmental organisation, in a statement signed by Sanmi Falobi, its programme manager, compiled the campaign promises made by Mr Buhari in the course of electioneering activities.

The 30 promises cover pledges on specific and general issues of road/rail infrastructure, education, agriculture, poverty eradication and inclusion of youth/women in government as well as the fight against corruption and insecurity.

The documentation was done by IPC’s Media Monitoring Team, while the promises were reportedly derived from quoted statements of the president in The Nation, The Punch, Daily Sun, Daily Trust, Vanguard, This Day, Leadership and Nigerian Tribune newspapers over a four-month period, from November 2018 to February 2019.

The specific sources listed were: page 6, The Nation newspaper of Monday November 19, 2018; page 2, The Punch Newspaper of Monday November 19, 2018; page 6, Daily Sun newspaper of Monday, November 19, 2018; front page, Daily Trust newspaper of Monday, November 19,2018; page 5 and 41, Vanguard newspaper of November 19, 2018; page 1 and 10, This Day of November 19, 2018; page 2, Nigerian Tribune of November 19, 2018; page 25, Leadership newspaper of December 5, 2018; front page, Thisday, January 17, 2019; page 12, Daily Sun Newspaper, Thursday, January 31, 2019; page 9, Nigerian Tribune of January 17, 2019; and front page, Vanguard Newspaper, February 09, 2019.

The Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade, said the exercise was in line with the tradition of IPC, “which in 2011 documented 91 campaign promises of President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)”.

According to him, it was also embarked upon pursuant to the implementation of Component 4b: Support to Media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) Project by IPC over a 52-month period.

Buhari’s promises

1. To engage one million N-power graduates and skill up 10 million Nigerians in partnership with the private sector.

2. To expand the school feeding programme from 9.3m to 15 million children, creating 300,000 extra jobs for food vendors and farmers.

3. To complete the Ibadan/Kano phase of the Lagos/Kano rail link.

4. To complete the Port Harcourt/Maiduguri line.

5. To complete the Itakpa/Warri link to Abuja, through Lokoja.

6. To complete the Second Niger Bridge and the East West Road connecting Warri, Delta State, to Oron, Akwa Ibom State, through Kaiama and Port Harcourt in Bayelsa and Rivers State.

7. To establish a peoples Moni bank.

8. To institutionalize the giving of soft loans of up to 1million naira to small traders, artisans and commercial drivers.

9. To increase the beneficiaries of trader Moni, market Moni and farmer Moni from 2.3 million to 10million.

10. To create more room for inclusion in government by achieving 35% in female appointments.

11. To give more access to youths as aides of cabinet members and through opportunities for appointments in board and agencies.

12. To introduce special mentoring programme in governance with young graduates working with ministers and other appointees.

13. To reinterpret the education curriculum through coding, robotics, animations and design thinking.

14. Retraining of all teachers in public primary and secondary schools to deliver digital literacy.

15. Remodeling and equipping of 10,000 schools per year.

16. To complete the 365 road projects under construction in all parts of the federation.

17. Provision of infrastructure and rebuilding the economy.

18. To sustaining the anti-insurgency war and curb insecurity.

19. To fight corruption and revamp the economy.

20. To develop 6 industrial Parks in each of the geopolitical zones.

21. To establish 109 Special Production and Processing Centres (SPPCs) across each senatorial district of Nigeria.

22. To develop the Special Economic zone to quickly concretize our made in Nigeria for export (MINE) plan.

23. To expand the social investment program so as to eradicate poverty.

24. To ensure completion of Manbilla Dam and Bridge.

25. To ensure the construction of the Makurdi Taraba Borno rail project.

26. To complete the bridges across the stretch of River Benue in Ibi local government area.

27. To continue to pursue agricultural policy by ensuring that fertilisers are made available at all the local government areas across the country, for easy access by farmers.

28. To resuscitate the Ajaokuta Steel Company.

29. To ensure the completion of the on-going Zungeru Hydro Power project.

30. To include persons of integrity in the cabinet.

June 22, 2019
Buhari, APC failed Nigerians on all campaign promises – Saraki

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday decried the level of insecurity and poverty in the country, saying that the All Progressives Congress has failed Nigerians.

He described the hardship which the APC he helped to power in 2015 has subjected Nigerians to as unprecedented.

Saraki spoke on a live programme aired by four radio stations in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The radio stations were Radio Nigeria (Harmony FM) Idofian, Royal FM, Sobi FM and Radio Kwara.

He sympathised with Nigerians, especially those from his home state, over the hardship he said they were going through particularly at this festive period.

He said the only solution to the present precarious economic and security situation in the country was for Nigerians to vote out the APC-led Federal Government and elect Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party as the nation’s President during 2019 general elections.

Saraki said, “Times are very hard for the masses as a result of the level of poverty in the country.

“Without sentiment, the present government has failed Nigerians. They must therefore ensure they vote for a leader that will address poverty and revive the economy.

“Nigerians will vote in February 2019 but the business community has already passed a vote of no confidence in this present government.

“I, therefore, urge Nigerians to vote out this government and vote a man (Atiku) that will restore investors’ confidence and get Nigeria working again. It is only one party that loves the common people and that is our party, the PDP.”

He added, “I am in politics to serve my people. When I campaigned in 2015, I pledged to Nigerians that my former party, APC, will address the issues of insecurity, unemployment and poverty but unfortunately the party has failed on all these three scorelines.

“I thank God Almighty for the position that was given to Kwara as the number three citizen.

“We have cut across our zonal intervention projects in the state which wasn’t possible in the first four years as a floor member at the 7th Senate because ranking members add more value to the community/constituency.”

The President of the Senate urged people of Kwara State not to be deceived by politicians who he said only come around about six months to election time.

Accusing the opposition members in the state of insincerity, Saraki challenged them to come out with their programmes for the people of the state.

He listed his intervention projects in the areas of education, power, road construction, water and empowerment schemes spread across the four local government areas that made up his Kwara Central Constituency.

December 26, 2018
2019: APC failed on campaign promises, not fit to return to power – Dickson

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State on Wednesday said the ruling party has failed on its campaign promises to Nigerians and is not fit to be reelected in 2019.

The governor also condemned what he calls “constant demonisation” of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, by the APC-led federal government, describing it as childish and uncalled for.

He said ridiculing the major opposition party by way of releasing lists of purported looters was “a distraction on the polity”, urging the government to concentrate on delivering on its promises to Nigerians.

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Francis Ottah Agbo, Dickson stated this during a live media interview in his office in Yenagoa on Wednesday.

The governor also reiterated his belief in the existence of two dominant parties in the country.

He however regretted that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is grossly fragmented, a development he noted, has made the party disorganised.

“This country needs two strong political parties. A united not fragmented party in government and a cohesive and clear-headed opposition party. The constant demonization of the PDP by the APC, for me, is childish and uncalled for.

“I have the feeling that the APC, though in power, still behaves like a party in the opposition and on a campaign mode. I believe the APC has failed on its promise to Nigerians, they have failed to secure the country, the country is on a precipice. I think they should have done better than they are doing right now.”

Mr Dickson also lamented the spate of senseless killings in Nigeria and urged the APC-led federal government to focus on tackling insecurity and economic recession, instead of distracting Nigerians with the so called looters lists.

“The PDP made its mistakes but it achieved a lot for our democracy and our country. There is too much division in the country right now, and the federal government has to unify the country. They should look at the wanton killings in the country not only by Boko Haram but by the herdsmen and arrest the ugly situation” he added.

On the ongoing civil service reforms in the state, Mr Dickson vowed that his administration would not be dissuaded from bequeathing a highly professionalized, disciplined and motivated public service, through the ongoing reforms.

The governor also noted that, the exercise was not aimed at witch-hunting any worker, but to rid the service of all forms of irregularities, sharp practices with the view to repositioning the service to stand the test of time.

He said: ‘‘The mind-set that you can keep your name on the pay roll without coming to work is negative and we have to draw the red line now, because we want to leave behind a reformed, repositioned, motivated and efficient work force that can stand the test of time…’’

Commending the various labour leaders in the state for being part of the process of sanitizing the public service at the state and local government levels, as well as all the educational institutions, the Governor assured that, at the end of the exercise, it would promote efficiency and increase productivity.

The governor, who cited the case of 1,090 staff with teaching qualification redundant at the local government councils, stressed that, they would be redeployed to schools after going through refresher courses.

He directed the chairman of the Civil Service Commission to formulate an employment policy that, would ensure the employment of fresh graduates into the vacancies that would be created arising from the reforms.

Governor Dickson also directed the committee handling the verification of the state workers to release the salaries of identified genuine workers, who were affected by the suspension order.

April 19, 2018
Zamfara Massacre: Buhari and I have failed on our campaign promises – Yari

…Says he alerted security agencies of impending attacks 24 hours earlier

Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State on Friday said the recent killings in the state where about 38 people died was a clear indication that he and President Muhammadu Buhari failed on their campaign promises of securing the lives and properties of residents of the state.

The governor also said he alerted security agencies of the impending attacks 24 hours before it actually happened.

Recall that some bandits had on Wednesday night invaded Zurmi LGA of the state killing 38 innocent people.

Speaking Friday evening when he led five northern governors on a sympathy visit to the palace of the Emir of Zurmi, Yari said security agencies in the area have failed to tackle the problem of cross-border banditry and terrorism bedevilling communities in the area.

The governor added: “I feel I let down the people of this state whenever I remember the promise I made to them that when they elect President Muhammadu Buhari into power, these killings will end. But unfortunately, things are now getting worse. I urge security agencies to up the ante so as not to lose this war.”

Yari also said when he alerted the security agencies, they sent inadequate personnel to confront the bandits.

In his remarks, the Emir of Zurmi, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, echoed Yari’s words, adding that if not for the bravery of vigilante groups who confronted the bandits, the casualty figures would have been higher.

Giving insight into what really happened, the Emir alleged that 600 bandits attempted to invade Zurmi but were repelled by vigilantes. “They came on many motorcycles, with three persons on each bike, each of them well-armed. We stationed 500 vigilante members who stood their ground and gallantly fought. Unfortunately, these same bandits turned their anger on travellers and other villagers on their way here, that was why we had 39 people killed.”

The Emir said the bandits are known, with their major hideout in a village called Kagara, very close to Bafarawa in Sokoto State. “Majority of weapons used by bad people in this country are brought in from this area. I had reason to personally inform Zamfara State Director of DSS sometime back that a large cache of weapons have been brought into the country but no concrete action was taken,” he said.

“I don’t need to repeat here that we need a full battalion of soldiers here and in areas surrounding Maru, Maradun, Shinkafi and Zurmi LGAs,” the visibly angry Emir said.

In his remarks, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno appealed to the people not to lose patience. He sympathized with the victims and prayed to God to grant the deceased eternal rest. In addition, governors on the entourage included Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, and Umar Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa states.

February 17, 2018
2019: Buhari has not fulfilled his campaign promises to Nigerians, Customs DG, Hameed Ali

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has derailed from its concept of change because it has not fulfilled most of its campaign promises of the 2015 general elections.

Ali said this at the unveiling of an ultra-modern Buhari Support Organisation, (BSO), office complex in Jabi, Abuja, on Friday.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that the BSO is the umbrella body of all pro-Buhari support groups that articulated and coordinated the President’s 2015 presidential campaigns.

The customs boss said the challenge ahead of 2019 elections was bigger than that of 2015.

He said the event was designed to rekindle “what we started in 2015 and what we used as a vehicle to fight in the trenches, out of the trenches, along routes and in so many different terrains to see to the success of vision and mission.”

Ali recalled that in the pursuit of the vision, so many lost their jobs and businesses in a bid to bring the change required for a better Nigeria. He noted that some started the journey (with Buhari) in 2003, others in 2007, 2011 and others joined in 2015.

He, however, expressed regret that halfway through after capturing power, the core values of the change mantra are being lost.

The customs boss said, “Let me say here without fear of being contradicted that I think halfway through the journey, we are losing our core values. We are losing our vision and mission and I think that the idea of our being here today is to look critically at what we need to do to get back on track.

“There is no doubt that we have derailed because we are not doing what we say we want to do. Why is it so? We need to find an answer to that. If we do find an answer; then, what should we do to get us all back on track? We owe this great nation and the 180 million Nigerians the duty to give good governance.

“Good governance is what they voted for and good governance is what they expect to get and they deserve that. We, therefore, as BSO, have a great task ahead of us. My dear comrades, the battle and the job start now.

“We have won one battle by taking over power. But what we make of this power is essential to us and to humanity. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to tell my colleagues here that we have to change the narrative. When we were out there working and jumping on the streets and reaching every corner, we were shouting change, change for a better Nigeria.

“Now, the keyword is good governance for Nigerians. We must agree that we cannot finish our four years without delivering and leaving something to be remembered for in this country for a long time to come. We have no problem with our President because he is on course.”

He re-echoed sentiments earlier expressed by the Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, that, “We have been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these people are the ones that call the shots today. That is why we are derailing.”

Ali said “We are the ones that will be asked to account for what happened. Are we willing to face Nigerians and tell them that we have failed? I think this is the time for us to come together, create a system that is very robust enough to fight back and take back government in our hands and ensure that we deliver.

“I will, therefore, ask my colleagues of the BSO to go back to the study room. This is a commission, but it is also the beginning of the fight for good governance. We must get back to the trenches, draw our own battle plan and battle line. I enjoin you to have the same commitment we had in 2015; I implore you to bear with us and commit yourself to a better future for Nigeria.

“We will be calling on you from now on and we will be working day and night. We must do so because we want to save our name at the end of the day and the name of the President for what he is doing,” Ali said.

October 28, 2017
Democracy Day: Buhari has fulfilled 2015 campaign promises – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said on Monday that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has fulfilled its campaign promises to Nigerians despite dwindling revenue.

Mohammed made the pronouncement at the Presentation of National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIP) Report Card event to mark the 2nd Anniversary of President Buhari’s administration in Abuja.

The theme of the report card presentation was “ Showcasing the Achievements of National Social Investment Programmes: A Smile for Every Nigerian.“

He said through N-SIP the Federal Government provided employment to 200,000 unemployed graduates, engaged 57,000 people through Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) and empowered about 26,000 ordinary Nigerians through Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT).

Mohammed said that under the National Home Grown School Feeding Programmme (NHGSFP), government was able to serve about 25 million meals to 1.2 million pupils all over the country in order to make leaning conducive.

The minister added that the APC-led Federal Government under its school feeding programme had employed no fewer than 12,000 cooks across 36 states and the FCT.

“ This is a government that promised and delivered on its promises and the unique thing about this particular N-SIP is that it has been achieved in an era when there has been no revenue.

“ It would have been very perfect excuse to say that because oil revenue dropped drastically, therefore, we are not able to deliver on our promises.

“ But despite the dwindling revenue, we are able to deliver on our campaign promises and then this is not related just to the social investment programmes alone.

“ I am happy that we are here today to prove that this government is not a government of propaganda; this is a real government that is dealing with the real people, “ Mohammed said.

He said the programme was designed in such a way that it was easy and accessible to all Nigerians, adding “one of the unique selling points of the programmes is the transparency in it.”

According to him, this is the first programme in the history of Nigeria that you don’t need to know anybody before you can get enrolled.

“ I am happy that many of the beneficiaries have testified to this and this is a new dawn.

“ My appealed to all the beneficiaries is to please let them not limit their testimonies to this hall please say it louder and clear at every time to all Nigerians.

“ Let Nigerians know how this government has impacted positively on your lives,“ he said.

The minister said that in spite of dwindling resource between October, 2016 and to dates, the Federal Government was able to add an additional seven billion dollars to its foreign reserves.

Mohammed disclosed that the the Buhari administration had been able to attract 500 million dollars to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), and increased the Excess Crude account with 87 million dollars.

“ All these we did despite the very tight resources,“ the minister said.

May 29, 2017
Buhari will fulfill his campaign promises

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said President Muhammadu Buhari will fulfil the promises he made to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria during the campaigns for the 2015 general election.

Osinbajo said this on Thursday in Jos during the golden jubilee celebration of St. Augustine’s Major Seminary, Jos, with the theme, ‘Remembering our past, shaping our future’.

He was reacting to the comment made by the Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Fr. Matthew Kukah.

Osinbajo said the promises included the prosecution of people who use religion as an excuse to destroy homes, schools and places of worship, and the protection of lives and properties.

Buhari also promised in rebuilding destroyed places of worship; giving full compensation to all destroyed/lost properties.

Kukah had quoted Buhari as addressing the CBCN in Abuja on February 11, 2015 during the election campaigns.

Buhari was quoted as saying, “Government has no business preferring one religion to the other. The role of government is to protect the lives and properties of citizens and to respect and protect their constitutional rights.

One critical thing that every government must strive to protect is the liberty of citizens to practice their respective faiths, whether they are Christians or Muslims and others, in a lawful manner without fear or hindrance and to prosecute those who use religion as an excuse to destroy homes, destroy schools and destroy places of worship.

“When government fails in this duty, they must assist in rebuilding these places of worship.”

While responding, Osinbajo said, “The President remains firmly committed to the promises he made before the Catholic bishops and God will help us abide by those principles.”

May 5, 2017
After 18months in power, we are still battling to fulfill our campaign promises – Buhari

…Urges Niger-Delta militants to come to negotiating table

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said it is sad to note that some of the problems his campaign highlighted and promised to find solutions to in the 2015 general election which he won was still lingering 18 months after assuming power as the nation’s president.

The president however appealed to Nigerians to be patient with his government saying he and officials of his administration were highly committed to restoring Nigeria to the part of greatness.

Buhari spoke when residents of the Federal Capital Territory, led by the Minister, Muhammad Bello, paid him a Christmas visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President said Nigeria and its citizens were uppermost in his mind, stating that he would continue to do all within his powers to improve their living conditions.

In his words: “I want you to talk to people to be patient with the government. We are always thinking about our country and we are thinking about our people.

“I assure you that the country and the people of the country are always uppermost in our minds. With our performance in the North-East, Nigerians know that this government is serious.

“For our friends in the Niger Delta area, we will persuade them that they should please sit down with us and agree to manage our resources rather than think of fighting it out.”

The president did not however failed to blame past administrations for failing to utilize the oil boom period by saving for times like these.

Speaking further, he said: “It is about 18 months since we resumed here. I believe some of you followed us during our campaigns and what we identified are still fundamental problems.

“The first is security, and we kept on saying whether it is an organisation or a country, we have to first secure it before we can manage it properly. Without security, nothing can work.

“Secondly, the economy and the unemployment of able-bodied persons. From 1999 to 2014, the crude production was over 2.2m barrels per day. The average cost per barrel was $100.

“When we came, it was $37. I think it is now between $40 and $50. I asked for savings, there was no saving. I asked them what they used the money to buy, they said they bought food and oil. I do not know how long it took me to recover from the shock.

“Some of you will recall either by history or discussion that it was cocoa, palm kernel, cotton, agro allied industry that we used to build infrastructure, be it rail or school.

“We also used the proceeds to develop oil. When we got the oil, we threw everything away. We thank God this year, the harvest was quite good; otherwise, I do not know what we would have done.

“There was no money saved, no infrastructure built, and power is still our main problem. Old roads are dilapidated and they need to be repaired from Lagos to Kano, Port Harcourt up to Maiduguri. There are rail lines we want to develop from Lagos to Calabar, from Lagos to Kaduna and the Abuja one.

“If we can get the infrastructure done, we cannot even know the number of Nigerians that will get jobs. So, we have to get infrastructure. It will take tankers and other articulated vehicles off the road; we will save vehicles and we will save lives and we will get jobs for a lot of Nigerians.”

December 26, 2016