Kashim Shettima, the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), on Thursday said, Peter Obi, the presidential standard bearer of the Labour Party has absolutely nothing to offer apart from dubious statistics.
This is contrary to the submission of Femi Fani-Kayode, the director of special media projects and new media of APC presidential campaign council (PCC) who had said Obi has far more to offer than Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
BusinessDay earlier reported that Fani-Kayode had in a statement on Sunday, while dismissing that Atiku does not measure up to Tinubu in the 2023 general election, said: “Even Peter Obi has far more to offer than him (Atiku).”
But Shettima, who turned Obi’s middle name, Gregory into ‘Gringori’, nickname of James Iroha, a pioneer Nigerian comedian now deceased, said the Labour Party’s presidential candidate has nothing to offer, as only Bola Tinubu of the APC has the capacity and track records to be Nigeria’s president in 2023.
The senator representing Borno central district spoke at a one-day symposium on: ‘Dissescting the Asiwaju Manifesto, Renewed Hope 2023’, organised by APC professionals.
“I always said we are not in the journey for the Olympics but an institution that thrives on the superiority of ideas and track records and who has better track records than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
“What are the options available?
Peter Gringori Obi is my friend but Gringori has absolutely nothing to offer apart from dubious statistics. So, the choice before us, there is a difference between daylight and darkness,” he said.
The former Borno State governor said Nigerians should expect tough times ahead, adding that 2023 will be a watershed election in the history of the country, hence purpose leadership is very crucial to confront the challenges.
“The trajectory of the world is facing Africa and Nigeria will make or mar that transition. How do we go about it? If Nigeria fails, the black man has failed. And the global economy sadly is going into recession.
“The bank of England has predicted that the British economy is going to go through a rough deep recession. In up coming winter, our former colonial masters are backsliding into a status of a third world nation.
“I am an eternal optimist but I am also a realist; we can not shield ourselves from the global realities, from the challenges in Ukraine. We are going to go through some rough waters in the coming months and years. This is why leadership is very crucial,” he stated.
Shetimma said there was no option but to reposition the country and Tinubu is the best candidate going by his antecedents of transformation in Lagos which made it an investment destination.
He said: “This is great nation in chains, chained by ineptitude, corruption, stupidity and naivety. Some have stolen so much that even if you extend their lives to 300 years they may not exhaust what they have stolen.
“That’s the sorry state of affairs in this country and we have to change it. There is no option than for us to rise. I want to give to President Muhammadu Buhari, he has done his best in terms of infrastructure. And our problem is not a debt issue, our problem is a revenue issue.”
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In her remarks, Aisha Buhari, the wife of President Buhari, said the issue of national security will remain the hottest topic for debate in the 2023 presidential election and the expectations of Nigerians are even higher now.
She said the current administration was able to reclaim territories hitherto occupied by the insurgents in the north east and thereby paved the way for locals to return to their communities to rebuild their lives.
Represented by Asabe Bashir, the director general, National Centre for Women Development, Abuja, the president’s wife said the incoming administration would be expected to continue from the gains of the current administration.
“It is expected that the national security plans of the incoming administration must continue to train and equip our security agencies to do more to secure the country and prevent crime; new ways of financing critical infrastructure like power, rail, road network etc must be explored to stimulate economic development.
“More social development programmes must be pursued to reduce poverty; and fresh ideas on combating emerging security challenges of kidnapping, oil theft, armed secessionist groups, communal clashes and flood must be proffered.
“I have gone through the manifesto of our Presidential candidate and have no doubt in my mind that given his experience in governance and passion to make positive impact in our national development, we would be in safe hands. I would suggest that every idea and strategy for national security must factor women,” she said.
Speaking on Tinubu’s economic blueprint for national prosperity, Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor of Lagos said that the APC presidential candidate has a vision of an economic miracle that will usher in prosperity, wealth creation, and jobs for all.
Pedro said his former boss plans to achieve double-digit economic growth by boosting the country’s GDP to over US$533 billion by end of 2023 and tame inflation to single-digit, adding that the World Bank projects 3% but Tinubu envisages 10% by end of next year.
According to the former Bank manager, Tinubu intends to: “Turn Nigeria into an industrial nation with a level of industrial activity unprecedented in our nation’s history. We are presently a nation that imports finished products and export mainly crude oil and raw materials. Asiwaju plans to change these dynamics.
“He identifies with the over 130 million young people with creative energies and abundant talents. He plans to empower many in this population segment and make them successful entrepreneurs in this new economy. He will focus on youth entrepreneurship and promote intergenerational business mentoring by getting up to 2 million volunteer entrepreneurs and professionals to mentor young people in finding jobs, honing their skills, and helping them set up businesses.
“Banks will also be encouraged to grant low-cost loans to youth-led enterprises, particularly those with marketplace ideas. He appreciates the crucial role of agriculture in our economy and will usher in a genuine and complete rebirth of agriculture through new and enduring initiatives.
“An important part of this is the introduction of Commodity Boards which will establish minimum prices for strategic crops and therefore guarantee minimum incomes for farmers and improve the farmers’ capacity to produce more of the food stables needed for our growing population
“He recognises the critical role of infrastructure in his plans to achieve double-digit GDP and will therefore build critical infrastructure in the power sector, oil and gas sector, build national highway system to make road transportation faster and safer and in the process hire millions of Nigerians. These are the foundational bedrock of his economic blueprints. He will take Nigeria on the digital pathway.
“He will exploit the growing digital economy through interventions in the ICT sector and deployment of new technologies to fast-track business growth and diversification. The plan is to create 1 million jobs in the first 24 months of the new administration. He also plan to deliver broadband services to 90% of the population by 2025
“He will liberalise the (oil) sector and send the right signals to the IOCs and other investors in order to boost confidence of investors and return sanity to the industry. He will also reenergize the gas sector and attract more investments into this sector. He plans to achieve full deregulation of midstream gas prices within 6 months and increase gas production by 20% and complete gas infrastructure projects by 2027.”
