Top General Buhari’s Promises During Presidential Campaign

Top General Buhari’s Promises During Presidential Campaign

Ahead of the March presidential poll, the key candidates are trying to display their best features and achievements to win the election. Legit.ng has collected the promises of the presidential candidate from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari.

On Boko Haram

Buhari, who was the military ruler from December 31, 1983, to August 27, 1985, first of all speaks on the main challenge which Nigeria faces, Boko Haram.

During the election campaign Buhari frequently assured Nigerians that he would stop the insurgency:

Our government will bring to an end the menace of Boko Haram terror that is plaguing the society. Nigerians are turning into refugees in their country,” he said during a rally in Adamawa. “What we save from the fight against corruption and leakages, we will invest heavily in education, infrastructure, equipment, and teachers. The best we can do for our generation and future generation is to give them qualitative and quantitative education. An APC government throughout the country definitely will do that.”

Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who is Buhari’s running mate, said that if elected they will personally lead the war against Boko Haram: “Fighting insurgency requires the Commander in Chief to lead from the front by providing leadership.”

READ ALSO: Buhari To Personally Lead Fight Against Boko Haram 

Instead of politicizing the issue, APC will galvanise all support and ensure that the threat to the territorial integrity of the country is put on check, and General Buhari will ensure that the entire nation is mobilized irrespective of party affiliation to solve the problem.”

Speaking recently at Chatham House in London, Buhari promised that if he wins, the world will stop worrying about Nigeria:

Let me assure you that if I am elected president, the world will have no cause to worry about Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will return to its stabilizing role in West Africa; and that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be lost to the enemy because we will pay special attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service, we will give them adequate and modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we will improve intelligence gathering and border controls to choke Boko Haram’s financial and equipment channels, we will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development plan promoting infrastructural development, job creation, agriculture and industry in the affected areas. We will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester, and I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front and return Nigeria to its leadership role in regional and international efforts to combat terrorism.”

On corruption

As Buhari had a rare reputation as a fighter against corruption during his time in charge of Nigeria from 1983-85, a lot of his promises connect to it.

The APC presidential flag-bearer said it was not only a civic duty but that every Nigerian was morally-bound to sustain the struggle to rid "this country of the prevailing corruption".

He stressed that he would make sure that those who steal public money are made to return it, noting that the fight against corruption will form a major focus of the APC government.

Buhari said despite his mature age he feels "spiritually strong enough and physically agile to give every sacrifice in our bid to salvage our dear nation from imminent economic and social disintegration.”

On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration. First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference.”

He also added: “We will stop corruption and make the ordinary people, the weak and the vulnerable our top priority.”

On youth unemployment

Nigeria is the most populous country on the continent and the problem of youth unemployment is very crucial.

General Buhari has promised to create one million jobs for Igbo youths in the southeast when he becomes the president.

READ ALSO: Why Buhari Would Be A Good President

He stated that he will realise this through coal deposits:

We are banking on huge coal deposits located at Amasiodo, Inyi and Leje axis of Enugu Coal belt. We are going to award contracts for mining and construction of coal-fired power plant, unlike PDP that since 1999 promised to revamp the coal fields and 16 years after, nothing has been done.

The APC’s presidential candidate speaking on the issue at a rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, last Thursday, promised to provide the country's residents with 3 million jobs annually and handle the lingering issue of unemployment.

On economy

“On the economy, the fall in prices of oil has brought our economic and social stress into full relief. After the rebasing exercise in April 2014, Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest economy. Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also on the bright side, inflation has been kept at single digit for a while and our economy has grown at an average of 7% for about a decade,” Buhari stated.

Buhari said that the Nigerian economy is too reliant on oil and gas. He claimed that the development of the agriculture sector and the revival of the textile industry would contribute to helping the economy move forward.

During a presidential rally in Owerri, Imo, he promised that industries will also be revitalised while soft loans will be given to small and medium enterprises, aside from other infrastructural development.

Buhari promised party supporters in Brinin Kebbi that “ending current epileptic power supply will boost the economy and attract domestic and foreign investment.”

On the Nigerian Army

Muhammadu Buhari has promised to restructure the Nigerian army and the Nigeria police force, if elected.

He said that the need to restructure the army and the police became necessary because Nigeria's enemies had become more sophisticated in the use of weapons.

"Our army and police will be highly equipped with all the required weapons, educated and uneducated youths will be employed through different programmes that will be created by our administration. We will rebuild our educational system and employ youths not on sentiment and god-fatherism. We will as well find ways of restrengthening the country's economy."

READ ALSO: Top 10 Jonathan's Electoral Promises 

On religion

Buhari is from the North and his faith is Islam. But as he said, he not a religious fanatic. The APC has also denied all the allegations on the ex-general's religious bigotry:

Buhari had been a military Head of State in Nigeria and had the power to make a decree and it will become a law in Nigeria. At that time, he did not make any attempt to Islamise Nigeria neither did he Islamise Nigeria. Is it now that you need the National Assembly to put a stamp of approval on what you do that he will come and Islamise Nigeria?” said the party.

When he met with Catholic bishops Buhari vowed not to Islamise Nigeria:

“For me, the issue of religion was, and should always, be a matter of personal conviction. This personal conviction approach to religion has defined my work and interactions all my life, including my tenure in office as military Head of State. The religion of all those I worked with was never a factor in their progress or in what happened to them. All that mattered then, and should still matter today, are competence, integrity and readiness to be fair to all.

It should be noted that Buhari has already visited 16 states with his presidential campaign rallies. Today, March 6, he comes back from London, where he spent over 10 days resting and campaigning.

APC supporters are expecting a grand final rally in Abuja.

The presidential election is to be held on March 28, as it was postponed by the Independent National Electoral Commission because of the insecurity in the northeast.

General Buhari is contesting for the presidential seat for the fourth time. His main opponent is the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan.

Source: Legit.ng

Online view pixel