APC Has Delivered On All Campaign Promises To Nigerians – Buhari
….Has These 30 Electoral Promises in 2019 Been Kept?
Despite the security and economic challenges that are being faced by Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the centre in the last seven and half years has delivered on all campaign promises made to Nigerians at all levels.
Speaking Thursday at the Palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, which he also inaugurated as part of his one-day official Visit to Kogi State, the President also said Governor Yahaya Bello had performed creditably in his two terms as governor.
According to him: “We are an Administration that prides ourselves in the fulfillment of our electoral promises to the Nigerian people, at both national and sub-national levels.
“This is why I am glad that we have an impressive array of legacy projects through your own state government as proof of our stewardship of Kogi State.
“The APC Administration has indelible footprints in Kogi State. Among the many projects executed by the Federal Government are; the Itakpe to Okene bypass, the Obajana to Kabba concrete road built by Dangote Industries Limited under our ‘roads for taxes initiate’ (Executive Order 7) and the Itakpe to Warri railway service, among others.
“I am very pleased to be here today to commission several projects executed by the administration of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello.”
President Buhari also spoke of the determination of his administration to position Kogi State as an industrial hub as well as a solid mineral power base.
He took time to explain how the Federal Government achieved the resolution of all legal entanglements that had bogged down the progress of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex adding that the project stands to benefit the people of the State immensely.
According to the President, “No other single project holds the key to unlocking this vast potential as much as the Ajaokuta Steel Complex which we inherited as a long moribund complex strangulating under a tangle of local and international commercial disputes.
“I am glad to report that as we begin to round off in office, we can genuinely say that our administration has rescued Ajaokuta from all legal disabilities and it is now ready for concessioning to a private investor with the right profiles to put it to work for Nigeria in general and Kogi State in particular.
“The process has cost this Federal Government over 400m US Dollars so far, but I consider it money well spent as we move closer to achieving our objective of transforming Kogi State into Nigeria’s iron and steel powerhouse.
“The benefits of getting Ajaokuta Steel Complex working again are numerous. It would provide over 500,000 estimated jobs and more than $1.6 billion in annual income to the Nigerian economy. Nigerians can rest assured that I remain committed to seeing this process to a logical conclusion before the end of my tenure in Office.”
President Buhari added that Kogi State also stands to benefit in diverse ways when the 614 kilometres (384 mile) AKK gas pipeline which traverses the State starts operations next year.
He commended Governor Yahaya Bello “for rising up to the occasion in many sectors especially security. We are proud of him and I encourage the people of Kogi State to continue to support him and his team as they are working hard to ensure peace, security and development in the state.”
Projects inaugurated by the President included:
The Reference Hospital Okene, which boasts of the first ever hyperbaric treatment chamber in Nigeria and the fleet of ambulances attached to it;
The new Ohinoyi’s Palace at Okene; The Ganaja Junction Flyover and interchange at Lokoja; The GYB Model Science Secondary School, Adankolo, Lokoja; The Muhammadu Buhari Square (Civic Centre) at Lokoja; and A fleet of high – tech security vehicles to combat crimes and criminalities.
Earlier in his welcome address, Governor Yahaya Bello thanked President Buhari for showing leadership and for the various programmes and interventions which had positively impacted on the State and her people.
These, the Governor said, included the Itakpe – Warri Rail Line which he noted, had brought relief to travellers and business owners in the state.
Governor Bello informed President Buhari that the projects inaugurated were in response to his commitment to serve, stating that since his swearing – in on 27th January, 2016, his administration constituted a multi-sectoral committee that went round the nooks and crannies of the State, identifying the needs of the people.
“This document has been our guide,” the Governor stated.
While acknowledging the commitment of President Buhari towards the resuscitation of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, the Governor thanked the President for his unrelenting interest in the project.
Governor Bello also stated that his administration has a cordial relationship with the traditional institution in the State, stating that the new Ohinoyi’s Palace being commissioned by President Buhari was a testimony to this.
Earlier, the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr Ibrahim Ado, represented by the Ohi of Okengwe, HRH, Alhaji Mohammed Tijjani Anage, on behalf of the traditional rulers of the Central Senatorial Zone of the State, thanked President Buhari for his support to Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration and for being the first sitting President of Nigeria to visit Kogi State on a working visit.
But, has the APC at the center fulfilled its campaign promises?
Recall that on the campaign podiums across the country, Buhari himself summed up his assignment under three headings: a promised to he rid the country of corruption, end the reign of terror or insurgency in the North East and revamp the economy.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital in January 2015, Buhari said, “The fundamental issue facing this country is insecurity and the problem of the economy, which was being made worse by corruption.”
List of 30 APC Electoral Promises in 2019
In June 2019, the International Press Centre (IPC) compiled a list of President Buhari’s campaign promises for stakeholders to measure progress.
The promises are:
- To engage one million N-power graduates and skill up 10 million Nigerians in partnership with the private sector.
- To expand the school feeding programme from 9.3m to 15 million children, creating 300,000 extra jobs for food vendors and farmers.
- To complete the Ibadan/Kano phase of the Lagos/Kano rail link.
- To complete the Port Harcourt/Maiduguri line.
- To complete the Itakpa/Warri link to Abuja, through Lokoja.
- 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.
- To establish a peoples Moni bank.
- To institutionalize the giving of soft loans of up to 1million naira to small traders, artisans and commercial drivers.
- To increase the beneficiaries of trader Moni, market Moni and farmer Moni from 2.3 million to 10 million.
- To create more room for inclusion in government by achieving 35% in female appointments.
- To give more access to youths as aides of cabinet members and through opportunities for appointments in board and agencies.
- To introduce special mentoring programme in governance with young graduates working with ministers and other appointees.
- To reinterpret the education curriculum through coding, robotics, animations and design thinking.
- Retraining of all teachers in public primary and secondary schools to deliver digital literacy.
- Remodeling and equipping of 10,000 schools per year.
- To complete the 365 road projects under construction in all parts of the federation.
- Provision of infrastructure and rebuilding the economy.
- To sustaining the anti-insurgency war and curb insecurity.
- To fight corruption and revamp the economy.
- To develop 6 industrial Parks in each of the geopolitical zones.
- To establish 109 Special Production and Processing Centres (SPPCs) across each senatorial district of Nigeria.
- To develop the Special Economic zone to quickly concretize our made in Nigeria for export (MINE) plan.
- To expand the social investment program so as to eradicate poverty.
- To ensure completion of Manbilla Dam and Bridge.
- To ensure the construction of the Makurdi Taraba Borno rail project.
- To complete the bridges across the stretch of River Benue in Ibi local government area.
- 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.
- To resuscitate the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
- To ensure the completion of the on-going Zungeru Hydro Power project.
- To include persons of integrity in the cabinet.
The Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, had explained that 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).
Today, how better the country has become in terms of job creation, security, ecomony and war against corruption, among others, is yet left for Nigerians to assess.
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