Ahead of the Presidential election



The interaction was for the Presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2019 general elections, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, during a Town Hall Meeting, held few days ago, which was moderated by the ace broadcaster, Ms. Kadaria Ahmed, on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme, held at the Ladi Kwali Conference Centre, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja. Other aspirants had featured and would soon be invited to participate in The Candidate.

The President and his vice spoke on a number of issues bordering on the forthcoming elections and the nation’s economy, security, anti-corruption programmes, federalism and restructuring, among others. While a few observers have scored the duo on well, many critics are of the opinion that the performance of the APC candidates, mostly the President, as abysmally poor. Buhari had said his second-term bid was at the instance of the national executive of the APC, stating that his re-election bid was aimed at fulfilling the manifesto of his 2015 campaign. The VP disclosed that the President deserved another term to consolidate on the gains of his administration.
 
“We campaigned on three fundamental issues, namely the economy, the fight against corruption and security. In those three respects, we believe that we have laid very strong foundations and I very strongly believe that we are on to much more progress if given a second opportunity. I very strongly take the view that the period of three and a half years, in particular, has been one where we have managed to turn around a lot of what was inherited in the previous 16 years. The previous 16 years were, in my view, a period during which a lot of revenue came in and very little appeared to have been done”, the VP said.
 
On herdsmen, Buhari noted that it was impossible to ask herders not to move through states. At this point, the moderator drew the attention of the President to the belief that his administration is perceived as being one-sided in mediating the problem because cattle rearers are ‘his people.’ Defending the President, Osinbajo said the perception was not true and that the National Economic Council (NEC), which he chairs, had approved a 10-year National Livestock Plan which will cost about N179 billion, while all the 36 state governors are members of the NEC and are expected to provide land for ranching of their own volition. While saying that the Federal Government has no intention of seizing anybody’s land by force, the VP noted that the current arrangement is a mixture of grazing and ranching, with government expected to build earth dams on river banks to take care of animals.

At a point, the moderator cautioned the VP by asking him to allow Buhari express his personal view on the authenticity of a viral video that depicted the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje allegedly receiving bribe money from a contractor. Osinbajo had interjected while attempting to bail out the President, who was not willing to answer the question. Buhari later responded saying, “As I told you, I have seen the clip. I don’t know how much technology was used but can Ganduje fail to trust someone to take it to him? … I honestly am overwhelmed. The system has given me some relief; it is in court. It is in the state assembly. So, let them as much as possible deal with it. This has received a lot of publicity and I hope by the time I visit Kano for my re-election campaign, there would be some answers.”

Osinbajo added that the Buhari administration was superior to the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government; despite the fact the administration also has large presence of PDP members who had defected to the APC. The VP responded to the question of the moderator of the live Town Hall Meeting, who reminded Buhari and the VP that Nigerians do not see any difference between the APC and the PDP government it replaced. The President noted further that the country was still experiencing the problem of out-of-school children, known as the Almajiri in the North, because state and local governments have not been fulfilling their own part of the bargain.

Buhari, however, called on the media and the elite to monitor the progress of the Disability Bill 2018. A mute man had asked the President to tell Nigerians how far progress had been made on the bill. “If the executive sends a bill, they can hardly put it in the budget except it is returned to the National Assembly with their comments and recommendations”, he stated. No doubt, the NTA programme afforded participants the opportunity to showcase what they have for the country, even though there are other important sectors such as health, science and technology. Just like other past editions of the programme, the various candidates have promised the electorate on what they have in stock for them to bring about good governance in the next dispensation. This is what the people truly desire. Yes, it is. 

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