2027: Security tops as APC-PCC unveils 4-point manifesto

By Soni Daniel, Emma Ujah & Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA—The Presidency yesterday asked Nigerians to study the past and current manifestoes of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and judge the party by the promises it has kept since 2023 when it assumed power.

Read Also: Security of lives and property to top Tinubu’s agenda in 2nd term – APC

The Presidential Campaign Council, APC-PCC, also said President Bola Tinubu will pay priority attention to protection of lives and property if he wins the presidential election on January 16, 2027.

Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who made the declaration at the unveiling of the APC manifesto, titled ‘’From Reforms to Prosperity,’’ described the manifesto as a binding pact with the electorate.

“A manifesto, in its strictest sense, is simply a contract between the people and their leaders. It is an inviolable contract, and we take the strict interpretation of what a manifesto represents as gospel under this administration,” he said.

He admitted that the reforms had put real pressure on households, adding that the people living through it deserve to be heard.

“Nobody should have to pretend that life is easy at the moment,” he said.

The former House of Representatives’ Speaker, nonetheless, defended President Tinubu’s decision to act, saying the President confronted the subsidy burden and a distorted foreign exchange system when he took responsibility for the country in 2023.

He said: “Leaving those problems untouched would have continued to weaken our ability to invest in the future. The difference between a politician and a leader is that while a politician thinks about the next election, a leader thinks about the next generation. And that is exactly what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated.

Four pillars

The manifesto rests on four pillars, including a secure and resilient nation; a better quality and more affordable life for every Nigerian; energy, infrastructure and economic growth; and effective and accountable governance.

They are tied to the eight priority areas of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which the document said would be carried out on four foundations – macroeconomic stability; the rule of law; institutional capability; and national cohesion.

By 2031, the document commits to power generation scaled towards 10,000 megawatts, annual economic growth of six per cent, and youth unemployment and out-of-school children, both halved.

It also promises 20,000 additional teachers and health insurance expanded from more than 23 million enrollees to 40 per cent of Nigerians. Primary health centres will function in at least 90 per cent of facilities, up from the current 53 per cent.

It further promises to work towards 200,000 homes under the Tinubu Mass Social Housing Scheme, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, mortgages and licensed private developers, tracked on a public dashboard.

Gbajabiamila added that the document had committed the government to installing seven million additional electricity meters.

He said it would also expose the government’s own record to public inspection, noting that “the manifesto commits us to publishing targets, identifying those responsible and reporting progress to the public. Citizens should be able to see where delivery is succeeding and where it is falling short.’’

Gbajabiamila, who said the party would ask for the electorate’s mandate in 2027 and earn it, stated: “A party asking to continue in government must be prepared to answer to the people whose mandate it seeks.

“The child studying tonight should have a fair chance of becoming the professional he/she hopes to be. The man opening his workshop tomorrow should be able to grow beyond the struggle to keep it open. Their ambitions deserve a country organised to help them succeed.’’

In his remarks, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, who chaired the APC 2027 Manifesto Unveiling Committee, said the administration had made progress but noted that more remained to be done.

He cited the last Nigerian Economic Summit, where he said the private sector acknowledged that the President had delivered on his promises.

“But, as we all know, even before anybody tells him, Mr President acknowledges that we have done well. However, until we deliver and ensure that every Nigerian feels the impact of prosperity, especially hardworking Nigerians and those who need support, we still have work to do,” Bagudu said.

He recalled how Tinubu, during his campaign in Zamfara State, directed a State House official to give money to a struggling carrot seller, citing it as evidence of the President’s concern for ordinary Nigerians.

“So, Mr President, without being influenced by any outsider, said we should confront our reality and address these challenges. As I have said, he was not concerned about the next election but about prosperity,” Bagudu said.

No leader has transformed Nigeria like Tinubu

Spokesperson of APC Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, and Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, said the President removed fuel subsidy and unified the foreign exchange market at a political cost to himself.

“Regardless of the political consequences, or even the President’s own political situation and aspirations, he carried out genuine structural reforms,” he said.

Alake, who alleged that powerful interests had exploited the subsidy regime and were resisting its removal, said: “It takes a man of courage, a man of grit, brains and brawn, to withstand the pressure of the cabal, which would fight back, and they are fighting back over the removal of fuel subsidy.’’

On the exchange rate, he alleged that some people with connections to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, or top government officials obtained millions of dollars at the official rate.

“In the twinkle of an eye, they would become billionaires while sitting in their backyards, making no contribution to production in the economy to shore up the naira. And, of course, the result, as you all knew, was a free fall,” he said.

Tinubu has given 1.6m Nigerians opportunity to attend varsity—Idris

The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, answered critics who said only a few Nigerians benefitted from the reforms.

“When the road between Abuja and Kano is being constructed, I am not aware that anybody needs to show his ID card to prove that he belongs to the APC, is a rich man or belongs to a particular class before he can use it,” he said.

On security, he said travellers on the Abuja-Kaduna road no longer have to ask whether bandits were still operating there.

“Today, nobody asks such questions. You take your car from here to Kano without asking whether terrorists, bandits, kidnappers or whoever was operating along the road is still there. This was not the situation before,” he said.

On NELFUND, the minister stated: “So, if you are looking for an example of Nigerians benefiting from these reforms, the 1.6 million young men and women and their parents are there. Nobody asks questions about their political affiliation.’’

Idris added that the Financial Action Task Force, FATF, had delisted Nigeria from its grey list, adding that headline and food inflation were both declining.

“That is why we are saying today that, yes, we have laid the foundation for reforms, and we are progressively moving towards a period of prosperity. As I said, by 2031, it will be almost impossible for anybody to reverse this course,” he said.

While appealing to the media, the minister said: “You do not have to like the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. You do not have to like him, but all of us must like Nigeria.’’

The APC-PCC also said on the occasion that President Bola Tinubu would pay priority attention to the protection of lives and property if he won the forthcoming presidential election on January 16, 2027.

To achieve that objective, the party has promised to recruit 28,000 additional military personnel and 50,000 police officers, in order to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.

On her part, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, who is the Deputy Director, Directorate of Manifesto and Policy Development of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, made the declaration.

The council also promised to complete the establishment and equipping of the four new Army Divisions in Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo and Benin City; sustain intelligence-led kinetic operations against insurgents and kidnapping networks to degrade and dismantle their operating bases.

In order to deal with kidnappers who have turned the nation’s forests into criminal hideouts, the ruling party promised to deploy trained Forest Guards, Agro-Rangers and Mining Marshals to safeguard agricultural belts, farming communities, grazing routes, national forest reserves and mineral deposits.

The minister said the APC administration planned to make Nigeria a fortress where everyone would live happily to actualize their potentials without any form of fear.

Vanguard News

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