Politics
SOWORE IS THE ANSWER TO NIGERIA’S PROBLEMS: VERDICT FROM “THE CANDIDATES” TOWN HALL SESSIONS
The Candidates – the presidential town hall co-production between NTA, Daria Media and the MacArthur foundation, drew to a close last night following Atiku’s appearance with his vice-president, Peter Obi. If it is fair to say that a leader’s true worth shines forth under pressure, then we can state categorically that there was one winner from the series and that was Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress.
Although Buhari and Atiku have artfully dodged a frontal debate with Sowore, The Candidates placed all the candidates on the same platform, with the same interviewer. And for 2 hours, Nigerians had the opportunity to hear the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the four leading political parties in the country talk about their plans and programs for Nigeria, as well as answer questions about their past. The town hall series was revealing. Nigerians have now had an opportunity to weigh their candidates for the highest offices in the land.
Buhari demonstrated a worrying cluelessness about many of the goings on in the country. He frequently had to be prompted by his Vice President, as he failed to hear or comprehend most of the questions asked. Buhari seemed neither mentally present nor interested in Nigeria. The APC has no ideas for how to steer Nigeria away from the crippling problems of insecurity, power sector failures, growing unemployment, farmer-herdsmen conflicts and lack of affordable healthcare access that continues to plague Nigeria. One could almost be moved to sympathy for Buhari after his catatonic performance, if it weren’t for the vicious wickedness that is the intention of foisting a second term that would extend and double our misery, on Nigerians.
Kingsley Moghalu and his running mate demonstrated that their ideas were as dated as those of the establishment they seek to replace. There were no bold plans to create jobs or to light up NIGERIA. There were no clear policy positions on how to address the challenges of insecurity and corruption. The town hall session also revealed the glaring lack of preparation of his vice presidential candidate. Suffice to say that his policies and heavy reliance on his previous stint as the deputy governor – a position that makes him complicit and responsible for a lot of the financial rot that Nigeria faces today – reveal him as being part and parcel of the establishment.
Atiku and Obi proved yesterday, that all of our fears that electing the PDP would simply replace one layer of corruption with another more complex and pernicious one, were true. Atiku could not satisfactorily explain his part ownership of a company that did extensive business with the Ports Authority when he was still in the Nigerian Customs service. He could not explain the money laundering indictments and allegations made by the US Senate Homeland Security Committee. Peter Obi squirmed and faltered as he attempted to convince Nigerians that he was doing Anambra state a favour when he invested billions of the state’s money in a venture in which his family’s NEXT International Nigeria, was a major shareholder. It is now clear that Atiku and Peter Obi complement themselves well. They are two vultures with the same corrupt feathers. They had no clear plans for any of Nigeria’s most pressing issues. They were clear on one point though – they were willing to offer amnesty to all corrupt persons.
We are thankful that despite the attempts to prevent Nigerians from seeing and contrasting Sowore with Buhari, Atiku and others on the national stage, the NTA – Daria Media Town Hall series provided objective points of contrast. Sowore demonstrated a masterful grasp of Nigeria’s issues. He showed amazing clarity in his vision for the country. Nigerians were able to learn first-hand that Sowore has been involved in the fight to move Nigeria forward for 30 years. Nigerians saw the courage of his plans and the strength of his conviction. Nigerians were reminded that he is the only candidate that committed to increasing power by 17,000 MW, doubling Nigeria’s road network from 200,000 km to 400,000 km, boosting our rail system from 3,700 km to 8,000 km, creating 5 million new jobs, paying workers a living wage of 100,000 Naira and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
Nigerians also got to see that in Dr Rabiu Rufai, Sowore has a running mate who equally understands Nigeria’s challenges and has the intellect, integrity and political will to be a strong partner in the task of positively transforming Nigeria.
Nigerians now know what their options are. We have seen all of those offering themselves for the leadership of our nation. The choice is clear. There is only one team that can move Nigeria forward, and that is the Sowore-Rufai team of the African Action Congress!
Dr Malcolm Fabiyi
DG Sowore 2019 Campaign
Breaking: Speaker Obasa Debunks Allegation Of Spending N17b On Assembly Gate
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Thursday described the allegation that the House spent N17 billion on the fixing of a gate as spurious and funny.
A self-proclaimed group, Lagos State Anti-Corruption Coalition, had accused the Assembly of spending the amount to construct a gate. The group also sought investigation of the claim.
Speaking at plenary, Dr. Obasa said the allegation stemmed from the fear of some people over 2027 which is still more than two years away.
Obasa further debunked the claim that the House spent N200 million on its recently organised 22nd thanksgiving service for staff.
“It is so funny. How much is the allocation of the Assembly in the whole year that we will decide to spend N17 billion on a gate? They even claimed that we expended 200 million on thanksgiving that did not hold.
“We are aware that at a period like this when we are approaching elections in 2027, we should expect such things. I think some people are scared and I don’t know why.
“This House did not and has not embarked on any such project. We are not that reckless. We had our thanksgiving last Friday and dignitaries from various parts of the State attended it,” the Speaker said.
Addressing further claims by the group about the alleged relationship between him and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, the Speaker denied attending the latter’s screening and confirmation by the National Assembly.
“They said that I was at the National Assembly when they were confirming the EFCC chairman. I want to believe that there are CCTV cameras at the National Assembly to identify those who attended the event. The press must have written about it too. So the group should do more to confirm if I was there.
“This is just to deny the allegations in the interest of the public and not the writers because the writers are not those we should be joining words with,” the Speaker said.
Earlier, the House, through its spokesperson, Hon. Stephen Ogundipe, had addressed the allegations noting that the Assembly bases its activities on integrity, transparency and accountability.
“It is ludicrous the claim about constituency intervention funds and constituency project funds and their handling by Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko as claimed by the group.
“One would have expected a self-acclaimed anti-corruption crusading group to do its groundwork before jumping across the fence with conviction that it hit a jackpot to malign an institution of repute in the name of politics.
“Simply put, the Lagos State House of Assembly does not have any such funds. The Assembly does not embark on constituency projects. Instead, once every year, the House holds stakeholders’ meetings simultaneously across the state where constituents have the opportunity to tell the lawmakers their expectations and make requests for the betterment of the state.
“These requests and expectations are compiled and sent to the executive arm of government for consideration as inputs in subsequent budgets. If this is what the group takes as constituency intervention or project funds, we are sure this explanation has given the required education, moreover, it is common knowledge that it is the responsibility of the Executive arm to execute such projects,” the earlier statement by Ogundipe read.
Eromosele Ebhomele
Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
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