APC has delivered on promises — Onwudiwe

Hon Uju Onwudiwe is the lawmaker representing Njaba State constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly. In this interview with CHIDIEBERE IWUOHA, she lists the democracy dividends so far delivered by the party to Nigerians since it came to power

Could you please comment on the vision of your party and its subsequent victory at the 2015 polls Th e party was registered in 2012 and the vision of the founding fathers was to champion a common front to provide a credible alternative to the then ruling People’s Democratic Party(PDP), which had grossly derailed from delivering dividends of democracy.

APC was able to galvanize the consolidated participation of all the critical stakeholders in the polity who had genuine issues and diff ered political opinions with the incumbent party and were able to challenge the incumbent at the general election of 2015 successfully.

Th e party won the election as an opposition party, ousted the incumbent president, won majority of seats as governors, making 23 governors out of 36 in the country and controlling majority seats in the Senate and the Federal House of Representatives. What do you have to say about the fi ght against corruption, which is the critical focus of the federal government? As a progressive party, the critical focus of the government led by His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, started prosecuting war against corruption.

In the wisdom and conviction of the President, corruption must be killed otherwise, it is capable of killing Nigeria. As such, the war against corruption has been waged against people and individuals who raped the economy of the nation, using their privileged positions and other means. Many high profi le individuals are today either being investigated or being prosecuted.

And I must as well state that the benefi ciaries are as well fi ghting back, either to discredit the eff ort at sanitizing the nation of corrupt practices, bringing them to give account of their stewardship, and closing their drain pipes through which they held the nation and the people to perpetual stagnation and unmitigated poverty.

Th e government has progressed signifi cantly in the fi ght. Various policies and initiatives such as Treasury Single Account(TSA),Whistle blowing etc have as well been instituted to drive institutional transparency. Do you think the fi ght against corruption has improved ease of doing business? Th e government realized that Nigeria’s ranking in the global index of ease of doing business is signifi cantly poor.

Th is is attributed to various factors which are linked to corruption. As a result, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has engaged coordinated approach to improving the factors that impact business development in the country. Such include port process and import procedure, registration of businesses, provision of business visa at the point of entry into the country etc.

On economic diversifi cation and entrepreneurship development: Th e government identifi ed the need to diversify the economy and to create the enablement for citizens to engage in creative and innovative ventures. Th is is aimed at creating alternative opportunities to engage the teaming population of unemployed and to enhance productivity. As a result, various cadres of loans and empowerment initiatives have been put in place by the government and the impact is already being felt across board.

Th e women and the youths are benefi tting from Anchor Borrowers and other funding options. Also, the government has initiated other programmes such as N-Power employment scheme, upholding the idea of YOUWIN, social welfare scheme, school feeding programme etc. What eff orts has the government made to ensure food security? On assumption of offi ce, the government realized the huge defi cit balance of trade caused by overreliance on importation of food.

Quickly, initiatives to engender local production of rice and other foods and the import control measures put in place have reduced the import demand signifi cantly. Financing and distribution of equipment such as threshers for rice production etc has been done. It is hoped that with the volume of resources so far committed and the ongoing eff ort to achieve food suffi ciency and to produce for export, Nigeria will soon be able to feed and ensure qualitative feeding of her population. Th ere is massive reorientation and commitment to growing other farm produce such as maize, cassava, millet, poultry, fi shery etc. Any programme on infrastructural development?

Th ere is no doubt that infrastructural development is key to attainment of democratic dividends. As a result, massive infrastructural revolution is on-going in the country. Road construction, construction of dams and bridges, rail infrastructure, etc are very much on-course. Signifi cantly, the rehabilitation of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport runway in a record time, earlier than expected, was an indication of the commitment of the administration to safety and provision of good infrastructure. What is the existing relationship between the executive, legislature and the second tier of government in the states like?

So far, democracy is thriving in Nigeria. Th e relationship based on mutual respect that exists between the federal legislature and the executive and the second tier of government in the states is signifi cant. It so far shows the beauty of mutual respect and understanding of the responsibilities and roles of each one as a player in the democratic system.

Nigerians have advanced in their ability to resolve issues through democratic processes and it has continued to manifest in stable delivery of results and reduction of political tension across the nation. Comment on the security situation in the country. And how successful has the fi ght against terrorism been? It is no more news that Nigeria has been battling the aggression of insurgency. Terrorism from extremist groups and external collaboration has been a major security challenge.

Th e present government has succeeded in decimating and degrading the insurgent attack, increasing military and security formations across the nation and eradicating fi nancial leakages in the system. Th e losses have reduced signifi cantly as we still continue in the fi ght to completely end insurgency. From all you have said so far, would you say our diplomatic relations has improved?

We have continued to strengthen diplomatic relationship with various nations of the world, especially in view of our conviction of our role in global world and with emphasis on African continent. We are in no doubt that being active member of the international community will continue to produce much benefi ts and global stability and so, the government of APC is really committed to diplomatic ideals and sharing of friendship across the globe.

Again, the emergence of APC as the ruling party of progressives has further deepened the democratic practice in Nigeria. We have so far witnessed 18 years of uninterrupted democratic practice and our institutions have grown better, orientations improved across the nation, and participation in democratic exercise on the rise. We are by far, better than we were though there is still room for improvement.

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