Headline2023: Presidential Candidates And Their Campaign Promises

2023: Presidential Candidates And Their Campaign Promises

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) opened the window for the Presidential/National Assembly campaigns on September 28, 2022. Similarly campaign for the Governorship/State Assembly election was declared open on October 12, 2022.

After the initial lull, the major political parties namely, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have started rigorous campaign across the length and breadth of the country.

Aside the usual campaign rallies, all the parties have explored the opportunity of addressing town hall meetings with business communities, religious bodies and the media to sell their agenda to Nigerians.

In monitoring the various avenues that political parties and their presidential candidates are exploiting to sell their manifestoes, we finally have an idea of what each of the candidates stands to provide for Nigerians, if they emerge as president next year.

Atiku: Restructuring and private sector-driven economy

The former Vice President and current presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has promised to restructure the country and devolve power to the benefit of the federating units.

He said: “There is over-concentration in the Federal Government with multiple duplications of agencies leading to the creation of parallel bureaucracies”.

“The federating units shall benefit from the devolution of powers to increase their productive capacity for synergy and collaboration with each other.”

Atiku’s promise is a response to widespread calls for restructuring of the country along the lines of fiscal federalism and devolution of certain responsibilities in the exclusive legislative list solely controlled by the Federal Government.

Policing has so far topped the list of the things that proponents of restructuring want federating units to have control over, especially as Nigeria faces escalating security challenges nationwide.

The former Vice President pledged that his administration would restructure the country.

“Nigerian people are excellent supporters and team players in a leadership environment that is open, friendly and merit-based. We have the will and determination not only to promote the pursuit of happiness but also the actual attainment of happiness and the good life in an egalitarian society.

“These hallmarks of our civilisation require that we restructure Nigeria in every facet of endeavour, open up the democratic space and mobilise our collective energy towards full-scale economic production,” Atiku stated.

Atiku said that he had assembled a team of constitutional lawyers and told them to give him a proposal on legislation that could be immediately presented to the National Assembly on Day One after assuming office to facilitate the necessary amendments to the constitution to ensure restructuring.

He told newspaper editors and other top media executives: “Already I have received a report from a team of constitutional law experts, which I assembled to look into our constitution and highlight areas where there are items that can be moved to the concurrent and residual lists of the constitution.

“I have a copy of the legislation, but I cannot share it with you. I want you to know that amending the constitution requires the Executive, the National Assembly and the state assemblies. It is a whole process.

“Let me tell you that I will start work on the implementation of that report from my very first day in office if I am elected president next year.”

Going further he said, “Of course, when we say devolution of power, obviously devolution of powers must go hand in hand with a measure of resource control. So it is just logical if your interest is in resource control. Then the powers will be devolved to the states and local government areas.”

Atiku also promised to reunite the country, stressing that he came with a “strong determination to rescue Nigeria and her people and rebuild the now broken bridges of brotherhood which our founding fathers laboured to erect”.

He took a swipe at the APC-dominated government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the present administration has failed to unite Nigerians.

“Our experience in the past seven years under the government of APC has made us doubt our strength as a people,” he added.

“In fact, it is safe to say that the greatest thing that the APC government will be remembered for is how it failed to maintain the integrity of our unity and how it has put a knife between the things that hitherto held us together.”

Atiku has therefore promised to unite Nigerians by forming a government of national unity immediately he is sworn – in next year.

“In 1999 all the two major political parties had southern candidates.

This is because when we wrote the Constitutional Conference Report of 1994, we all agreed that our next president must come from the South, irrespective of whichever party he belonged to. We conceded the presidency to the South. Therefore, we had two presidential candidates from the South, Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae.

“After the elections the country was divided between the North and the South. We said that to avoid division, we were going to have a government of national unity. Although the PDP won overwhelmingly, we brought in members of the Alliance for Democracy and the All Peoples Party as ministers. So with that move, the country immediately became one. That provided peace and stability that we have. Then we embarked on a number of reforms to make sure we provided the people of this country the good government they required.

“So this is what I intend to do. PDP will form a government of national unity. We will bring members of the opposition who would have lost the election by then into our government. Of course, we will move on from there. This is the only way to unify this country and we will now begin to move.

“Today, we have 17 heads of various security agencies. All of them come from the North; I will not do that. I will make sure that every geopolitical zone is represented in the headship of these security outfits. This is also another way you can unify this country and give every part of this country a sense of belonging.

The PDP candidate said he was “determined to restore hope, rebuild our broken fabrics, reverse the locust years of bleeding of our commonwealth, and place Nigeria on the world map.”

On the issue of economic policy, Atiku said he would continue with the economic policy adopted by the Olusegun Obasanjo Administration between 1999 and 2007. He was Vice President at that time.

“I will liberalise the economy for private sectors to create wealth. Liberalizing the economy is broad. Empowering the private sector is broad, and of course, continuing with the privatization of our public enterprises. In other words, we will create a more private sector-driven economy.

“If you look at the greatest economies of the world, you would find out that governments have invariably little to do with the economy. They allow the private sector to play its role. And you can see the prosperity and the developments that the private sector has brought about in those places.

“If you see the amount of work the government has to do in this country, such as building and rebuilding ports, constructing railway lines, building and rehabilitating roads. Huge sums of money are involved. To borrow Dokpesi’s word, the Federal Government does not have such humongous amount of money that is required. Rather than borrowing money to build roads and bridges, I would rather concession most of these to the private sector and give them tax grace, invest and get back their money and bring more development and have jobs for the younger ones. This is what I would do”.

On insecurity, Atiku has promised more votes, more equipment and more training.

He said: “By the time you double the strength of the Nigeria Police Force, maybe you will be talking of about 700,000 or so. You will have reduced unemployment. So, we will extend that operation to the armed forces. By the time we finish doing that; you will find that you would have taken more than 1 million people out of the unemployment market.

Kwankwaso/ NNPP: Quality education, improved agriculture

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, (NNPP) Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has assured Nigerians that he will ensure peace, security and unity if he wins the next presidential election.

Addressing Nigerians, Kwankwaso said, “Conscious of the provision of Section 14:2[b] of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which provides that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. We will secure the entire country, ensure that peace and peaceful coexistence reign, as well as work hard to strengthen the bond of unity amongst Nigerians of all backgrounds.”

On education, the former Kano state governor said it is widely accepted as a leading instrument for promoting economic growth.

He said, “Education is a public good. We shall ensure, through the correct reforms and investment, that all our schools provide the appropriate quality education to our citizens. Access, quality and productivity shall be the cornerstones of our education reform.

“Rather than establishing new public tertiary educational institutions (TEls), our administration will first focus on upgrading, rehabilitating and expanding the existing ones to the level of global competitiveness”.

On health care, the NNPP flagbearer said, “healthcare service is a public good” while promising Nigerians that his administration will be committed to ensuring that “our healthcare system is positively overhauled to ensure humane, effective, efficient, and qualitative service. Saving lives and building a healthy citizenry shall be the priority of all our healthcare institutions”.

He promised that if elected, more jobs will be created at multiple levels through the Economic Revamping Strategy as well as through the constructive engagement with the youth by honing their skill sets and providing them with necessary support.

Kwankwaso, while noting that energy and power were the backbone and the central nervous system of the economy, said he was conscious of the fact that growth would be stunted and development paralysed if these two economic pillars were not adequately and sustainably provided.

He promised to deploy his energy and power Masterplan aimed at ensuring availability, adequacy, sustainability, affordability, and safety.

On poverty alleviation, Kwankwaso promised to lift Nigerians from the poverty ditch through targeted poverty alleviation and poverty elimination strategies that will ensure that families at the bottom of the social ladder have access to food, clothing, quality education, basic healthcare and basic housing needs.

He also pledged to revolutionise agricultural practices by investing in technology, training and extension work with the objective of attaining national food security as well as capturing substantial market share of food in the African continent.

“We pledge to ensure the deployment of global best practices in establishment and management of forestry, plantation, animal husbandry, livestock, poultry and fisheries as well as guarantee an agriculture value chain that protects the farmers, the livestock owners as well as the consumers,” he said.

He also promised to work assiduously to combat climate change and its negative impact such as flood, erosion, and desertification.

Obi/LP: To Tackle unemployment, insecurity

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, (LP), Peter Obi, has promised to tackle unemployment and insecurity, if voted into power.

Obi said he would tackle insecurity to pave way for economic growth and development.

He has also pledged to create jobs for youths in order to lift them off poverty and deprivation.

“I assure you that if we come into power, we will address farmers and herders clashes and farmers will go back to their farms. We will tackle insecurity bedeviling the entire nation.

“We will also support youths because today, our youths do not have hope. We will support them in order to reduce the high level of criminality in the country,’’ he said.

Obi also promised to support agriculture in the county, especially in the North, to ensure food sufficiency and food security.

“The prices of goods will come down. Today many Nigerians are finding it difficult to feed themselves. If India can feed herself, Nigeria can also feed herself.

We will also solve the flooding problem ravaging the country and ensure that there is adequate supply of electricity for industries to grow.

“When the LP wins, there will be no more strikes in universities. The government will comprise youths and women. We will provide fertilizer to farmers across the nation,’’ he promised.

He also pledged to unite Nigeria, if elected as president in 2023.

He said unity and security were needed to address problems bedevilling the country, including moving Nigeria from consumption to production.

He noted that some of the challenges facing the country, such as unemployment, drug abuse and others, could be addressed by prioritising the production sector.

“We must secure and unite the country. When you secure the country, farmers will be able to return to the farm. That alone will start addressing food inflation.

“By moving the country from consumption to production you are moving people away from poverty. The more you pull people out of poverty, the more you address criminality,” Obi said.

Tinubu/APC: More export, affordable electricity and support for farmers.

The presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said that he will build a Nigeria, especially for youth, where sufficient jobs with decent wages will create a better life.

“We will manufacture, create and invent more of the goods and services we require. Nigeria shall be known as a nation of creators, not just of consumers.

“We will export more and import less, strengthening both the naira and our way of life’.

The former Governor of Lagos State also vowed to continue assisting farmers through an agricultural policy that promotes productivity and assures decent incomes, so that farmers can support their families and feed the nation.

He further said, “We will modernise and expand public infrastructure so that the rest of the economy can grow at an optimal rate.

“Embolden and support our young people and women by harnessing emerging sectors, such as the digital economy, entertainment and culture, tourism and others to build the Nigeria of tomorrow, today.

“Train and give economic opportunity to the poorest and most vulnerable among us. We seek a Nigeria where no parent is compelled to send a child to bed hungry, worried whether tomorrow shall bring food.”

Tinubu has also said his government will “generate, transmit and distribute sufficient, affordable electricity to give our people the requisite power to enlighten their lives, their homes, and their very dreams.

“Make basic healthcare, education, and housing accessible and affordable for all.

“And, most importantly, establish a bold and assertive policy that will create strong yet adaptive national security architecture and action to obliterate terror, kidnapping, banditry, and all other forms of violent extremism from the face of our nation.”

About the Author

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AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.

Ayo Esan, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.

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