Politics
APC’s Roadmap To A Better Nigeria
Last Thursday, the All
Progressives Congress (APC) blazed the trail by coming up with a written document that clearly lists its promises to the electorate. The party, at its inaugural national summit held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, unveiled its code of ethics and agenda for the country ahead of the 2015 general elections.
A summary of the APC’s manifesto presented during the summit showed that the party places premium on job creation, fight against corruption, free and quality education, agriculture development, housing development and healthcare plan for children and adults. Other areas that were captured in the manifesto include social welfare for the less privileged, roads, power and infrastructure, better management of natural resources, security, freedom of religion and foreign affairs.
APC’s manifesto, according to the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Muhammed was based on the opinion polls conducted for the party by a foreign consultant, KA Research Limited (KARL), a privately owned international research company based in Brussels, Belgium and Islanbul, Turkey.
The APC spokesperson said the public opinion polls which were conducted both in rural and urban areas, showed that unemployment remains the most challenging issue facing Nigerians with 60 per cent of respondents castigating the PDP government for unemployment. This, according to him, was closely followed by corruption recording 59 per cent of Nigerians blaming the country’s woes on weak anti-graft policy.
APC, therefore, promised to tackle unemployment head on by creating at least 20,000 jobs per state for those with minimum qualification of secondary school leaving certificate and who have technology and national training immediately on assumption of power at the centre.
The party also resolved to show zero tolerance for corruption at all levels by pursuing a legislation that will expand forfeiture and seizure of assets laws and procedures with respect to inexplicable wealthy, irrespective of whether there is a conviction or not.
APC’s blueprint is a departure from the past when political parties waited till the campaign period, more often at campaign rallies before ditching out a salad of promises to the electorate.
The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola who set the ball rolling on APC’s manifesto at the summit, described the party’s roadmap as something new in Nigerian politics. He explained that the uniqueness of the event was that the party was making its intention known to the Nigerian people at a forum other than a campaign rally as had been the practice in the last 15 years.
“No party in more than 15 years has done what we will do today. Publicly, and most importantly, together as a party, we tell Nigerians what we believe in a meeting, not just in a rally, not in the middle of a political campaign”, he said.
Fashola explained that what stand APC out from other parties is that the party has got a roadmap for developing Nigeria, and code of ethics to regulate and guide the activities of its members whether in government or out of it.
The APC may have borrowed a leaf from the first and second republics when political parties were well known for their core principles and political ideologies. For instance, the Unity Party of Nigeria led by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was well known for its five cardinal programmes including free education and free health, while the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) anchored its own programmes on affordable housing and development of agriculture, among others.
For 15 years since Nigeria returned to civilian rule, the country was bereft of political party ideologies. All the parties merely played to the gallery without clearly defined manifesto. Worse still, apart from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that wears a national outlook, other parties merely existed on the fringe and tended towards protecting and serving ethnic interest.
However, with the unveiling of APC’s blueprint last Thursday, the party appears to have carved a unique ideological niche for itself. The uniqueness of the APC’s roadmap lies not only in its contents but also in the procedure and methods adopted to arrive at conclusions on each of the issues affecting the lives of Nigerians. The idea of using opinion polls to gauge the feelings of Nigerians on what they consider as most needful and challenging has added a new vista to Nigerian politics.
Speaking further on the manifesto launch, Fashola said “the work we begin today is the work that will build a new Nigeria. We in the APC seek to create a new future for Nigeria; a future when there are jobs for everyone who wants to work; a future without leaders who deprive the very families they are supposed to protest; a future of peace and stability; a future when Nigeria can feed its families; a future when a Nigerian education is as good as any education in the world; a future when the high prices of food and fuel do not undermine every family’s quality of life”.
The Lagos State governor believes Nigeria’s population of over 160 million and 290 ethnic groups who speak 521 languages ought not to be a disadvantage but a source of strength which should create jobs and opportunities for all.
He berated the ruling PDP for paying lip service to anti-graft war, saying if government were committed to the anti-graft war, there would have been enough money to create jobs for the nation’s growing youth population.
“And let there be no doubt about the link between corruption and jobs. If we had a government that is serious about fighting corruption, there would be financial resources to create jobs. Instead of stopping this corruption, this government (federal government) pardons those convicted of corruption and removes those who point out corruption”, he said.
Several other speakers including leaders of the legacy parties that coalesced into APC, namely General Muhammed Buhari of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Ogbonaya Onu of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), the APC’s Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande and former National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh took turns to tell the audience what led to the merger of opposition parties.
Gen Buhari said decided to come together to put an end to impurity in government and to ensure the country’s enormous resources are well managed.
In his own remarks, Tinubu who is a former government of Lagos State, said he was encouraged by the fact that everywhere he went even during the course of his exile, he could only rely on his Nigerian passport. This, according to him, made it imperative for him and likeminded progressives to build a truly national political party.
The former governor who said “the youths are the owners of APC agenda because it is their interest that the party is fighting to protect through creation of employment, sound economic development, and prudent management of resources”, gave indication of the APC’s readiness to build four refineries within four years in office to check the current overdependence on the importation of petroleum products and “to put a stop to the circle of product scarcity and subsidy scams in the country”.
Other members who spoke at the well-attended summit include former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Borno State Governor, Ali Mohdu Sherrif, APC State governors and the outspoken former Vice-President of the World Bank and two time minister in Nigeria, Dr (Mrs) Obiageli Ezekwesili who delivered the keynote address.
The APC’s roadmap did not only provide an avenue for the party to showcase what Nigerians should expect if it forms government in 2015, it is also an ingenious innovation that rattled the ruling PDP whose rank has depleted in the last four months due to a gale of defection from its pack to the APC.
In a quick response to APC’s blueprint, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisah Metuh last Thursday, described the roadmap as “empty and typical of all anti-democratic coalitions”, adding that it “lacks character, depth and completely addressed no issue”.
He also faulted the APC’s code of ethics, saying the PDP was the first political party to launch its code of conduct as far back as 2006 when Senator Ahmadu Ali and Ambassador Ojo Maduekwe were National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively.
Notwithstanding the PDP’s political mudslinging, the APC’s roadmap is a novel idea that could help fix all the failings of successive governments in the country. But whether or not the APC is ready to accept the challenges inherent in seeking to tackle all the myriads of ills plaguing the nation, as Dr Ezekwesili canvassed in her thought-provoking address is a question only time will tell.
Cross section of lawmakers at sitting Government House, Port Harcourt last Thursday. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
Boye Salau
The Tide source reports that Prof. Akinoso was elected alongside 38 other executive members of the party at the congress held on Saturday.
Other executive members are Dr Abiola Olaonipekun, who emerged as Secretary, Alhaja Latifah Latifu, Women Leader and Mr A. Adeleke, elected as Youth Leader.
It was learnt that the congress, which took place at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Oke Ado in Ibadan, was attended by representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police, other security agencies and prominent members of the party.
The election was supervised by electoral committee members, among whom were Prince Diran Odeyemi, who served as Chairman, Hon. Awoniyi Tolulope, Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, Queen Stepheine Oyechere, Alhaji Yusuf Abidakun, Mr Olumide Aguda and Dr Phillips Adeniyi, who served as Secretary.
Prof. Akinoso, in his inaugural address, urged members of the party to set aside intra-party differences.
He advised them to concentrate their resources on the promotion of the party, saying, “The primary responsibilities of party executive members are to coordinate party activities, ensure harmony among members, and ensure party victory during general elections.
“Our immediate assignments are to key into INEC released 2027 general election time-tables. As directed by the National Caretaker Committee of PDP, our party e-membership registration starts next week. We must be fully involved and do a membership drive.
“A political party is only relevant and benefits its members if it wins the election. This is our goal. We should set aside intra-party differences; concentrate our resources towards the promotion of the party. We will make necessary consultations and dialogue to actualise this”.
President Tinubu disclosed this during an interfaith breaking of fast with senior journalists and media executives at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Saturday.
He also disclosed that his administration had opened up on the principles of true federalism to the extent that local governments now get direct allocation from the Federal Government.
“There’s no morning that I ever leave my house without going through the newspapers. It’s an addiction. I read all of you.
“It might not be in full detail, but headline, the one that would hit me and the ones that won’t.
“At the beginning of this administration, I was just a little bit stubborn, looking at opportunities to correct things and make life more easier for the downtrodden.
“We’ve opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money, but how they use it is in your hands. So, don’t bombard me alone,” President Tinubu said.
The ruling party said the ADC had turned criticism of the APC-led administration into its operating manifesto instead of presenting concrete solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges.
In a statement issued on Saturday by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka, the party dismissed the ADC’s interpretation of a report presented at a policy dialogue organised by Agora Policy which suggested that the country’s poverty rate had risen from 49 per cent to 63 per cent.
Mr Morka said the opposition party’s reaction to the report as a “damning verdict” on the government’s economic policies reflected either ignorance of economic realities or deliberate political mischief.
“The African Democratic Congress’ attempt to spin a recent report presented at the Agora Policy dialogue indicating a rise of poverty rate of 63 per cent from 49 per cent as a damning verdict on this administration’s economic policies speaks either to its shocking ignorance of economic policy or its wilful blindness to the justification for, and transformative impacts of, ongoing economic reforms,” he said.
The APC spokesman noted that the report itself recognised the necessity of reforms aimed at correcting long-standing structural distortions in the economy.
According to him, the ADC had failed to present any credible alternative policy direction for Nigerians.
“Clearly, the ADC does not recognise itself as a political party. The ADC has not articulated a single alternative policy position or prescription of benefit to Nigerians. Condemning the APC and its policies has become its operating manifesto,” Mr Morka said.
He explained that major economic decisions taken by President Bola Tinubu, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple foreign exchange windows, were necessary steps to rescue the country’s economy from collapse.
Mr Morka said the subsidy regime had for years placed a heavy burden on public finances, consuming trillions of naira annually while encouraging corruption, fuel smuggling and inefficiencies in the system.
He added that the reforms had helped redirect national resources to key sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, education and social development.
The APC spokesman acknowledged that economic reforms often come with short-term hardship but stressed that the measures were essential to build a stronger and more resilient economy.
“Economic reform is never cost-free anywhere in the world. The transient hardship experienced by Nigerians was an inevitable cost of reforms meant to build and guarantee a better future for all Nigerians,” he said.
Mr Morka maintained that the country’s economic outlook was already improving, citing recent growth figures and stronger external reserves.
“Our economy has rebounded and is expanding steadily. The country’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.4 per cent last year and is projected to expand by 5.5 per cent this fiscal year, with foreign reserves now exceeding $50 billion,” he stated.
He also pointed to government initiatives designed to cushion the effects of economic adjustments on citizens, including cash transfer programmes, student loan schemes and the rollout of compressed natural gas (CNG) initiatives to reduce transportation costs.
Mr Morka reaffirmed that the APC-led administration would remain focused on rebuilding the economy and expanding social investments to support vulnerable Nigerians.
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