2023 Presidential Race: Who Has The Best Manifesto?

Preparations are in top gear towards the ​​ ​ conduct of the 2023 general elections.

Sequel to the timetable announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which fixed the Presidential and National Assembly elections for Saturday 25th February, 2023 and Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections for Saturday, 11th March, 2023, political parties and their candidates have been going round promising to transform Nigeria and make it something akin to paradise.

​In this fairy tale that they are weaving, they are promising that there will be jobs galore for the youth, hospitals will be choking with drugs, education will be free while schools will have enough well paid and qualified teachers and funds will be available to improve the buildings, ASUU strike will be a thing of the past.

​Not done yet, they are also promising a supercharged development of infrastructure hitherto not witnessed across the Republic of Nigeria among other mouth watering promises.

​Rulers World examines the manifestoes of the four leading presidential candidates and their political parties as presented to the electorates.

Labour Party (LP) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MR PETER GREGORY OBI MANIFESTOES

​To secure Nigeria, end banditry and insurgency, and unite our dear nation, to manage our diversity such that no one is left behind.

​Shift emphasis from consumption to production by running a production-centered economy that is driven by an agrarian revolution and export-oriented industrialization.

​Restructure the polity through effective legal and institutional reforms to entrench the rule of law, aggressively fight corruption, reduce cost of governance, and establish an honest and efficient civil service.

​Leapfrog Nigeria into the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), through the application of scientific and technological innovations to create a digital economy.

​Build expansive and world-class infrastructure for efficient power supply, rail, road and air transportation, and pipeline network, through integrated public-private partnerships, and entrepreneurial public sector governance.

​Enhance the human capital of Nigerian youths for productivity and global competitiveness through investment in world-class scholarship and research, quality healthcare, and entrepreneurship education.

PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY, (PDP), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR MANIFESTOES.

​To restore Nigeria’s unity through equality, social justice, and cooperation among various people.

​To establish a strong and effective democratic government that will guarantee the safety and security of life and property.

To promote a strong and true federal system.

To improve and strengthen the education system and equip students with all necessary skills required to be competitive in the new global order which is driven by innovation, science, and technology.

*The economy*

​Re-affirming the criticality of private-sector leadership and greater sector participation in development; while also repositioning the public sector to focus on its core responsibility.

​The second on the list is to break the government monopoly in all infrastructure sectors, including refineries, rail transportation, and power transmission.

​He assured further that the market will then determine prices, and as a result, “the persistent price distortions occasioned by current interventionist exchange rate management policy shall be eliminated.”

​To rely more on optimizing the fiscal space to generate more revenues for development. He projected a fiscal regime that is stable and predictable and can bridge the gap between the national revenue yield and national expenditure.

​He highlighted some of the fiscal strategies his administration will employ to include, including Domestic Reforms to improve IGR, promoting export growth to improve fx earnings, blocking leakages, and financing projects through strategic partnerships with the private sector.

*National Security*

​Reactivate meaningful registration at birth as a way of reducing the crime rate and protecting Nigerians.

*Restructuring*

​With what looks like the approval of the state police, to restructure and decentralize security institutions, promising to deal decisively with terrorism, kidnapping, and other crimes.

THE NEW NIGERIA PEOPLES PARTY (NNPP) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, SENATOR RABIU MUSA KWANKWASO MANIFESTOES

*Leadership and Justice*

​We will provide you with patriotic and competent leadership that is guided by the seven time-tested principles of public life: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, and Leadership-by-Example. We will be fair and just to all, and we shall ensure fairness and justice at all levels of governance.

*Peace, Security and Unity*

​Conscious of the provision of Section 14:2[b] of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, we will secure the entire country, ensure peace and peaceful coexistence reign, and work deliberately to strengthen the bond of unity amongst Nigerians of all backgrounds.

*Revamping the Economy:*

​We have an economic plan that is centred on you and your family. We shall improve the income level and strengthen the purchasing power of every Nigerian citizen. Our Nigerian Economic Revamping Strategy has a three-deck implementation scheme:

Stage I: Emergency Rescue Plan (ERP)

Stage II: Targeted Stimulation/Job Creation

Stage III: Long-term and Sustainable Investment

*Quality Education for You and Your Family:*

​Education is a public good. We shall ensure, through the correct reforms and investment, that all our schools provide the appropriate quality education to our citizens. Access, quality and productivity shall be the cornerstones of our education reform. Rather than establishing new public tertiary education institutions (TEIs), our administration will first focus on upgrading, rehabilitating and expanding the existing ones to the level of global competitiveness.

*Improved & Modernized Healthcare Services for You and Your Family:*

​Healthcare service is a public good. My administration will be committed to ensuring that our healthcare system is positively overhauled to ensure humane, effective, efficient, and qualitative service. Saving lives and building a healthy citizenry shall be the priority of all our healthcare institutions because health is wealth.

*Labour: Opportunity for All*

​ Jobs, and jobs, and more jobs will be created at multiple levels through the Economic Revamping Strategy as well as through constructive engagement with the youth by honing their skill sets and providing them with the necessary support.

*Foreign Relations – Improving Our Country’s Ability to Participate in Global Governance:*

​While maintaining peaceful cooperation and beneficial bilateral and multilateral relationships with the governments of other nations, we shall redesign our foreign policy agenda to reflect the leadership position of Nigeria in West Africa and in Africa with the core objective of reclaiming our country’s position in global governance.

*Environment, Ecology and Climate Change:*

​We shall work assiduously to combat climate change and its negative impact such as flood, erosion, desertification etc. We will work to improve the conditions and preserve the natural beauty of the environment. We shall beautify our cities and ensure the creation of parks and gardens as well as green belts across the country. We shall ensure the preservation of the natural flora and fauna of our country and work deliberately to save all endangered species.

*Entertainment Industry:*

​We pledge to support and ensure the growth of Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry as a major national image launderer, job creator, national unifier, cultural promoter, and a major contributor of forex inflow. We will create more training and mentoring opportunities, provide special funding support as well as enforcing copyright laws to prevent piracy and counterfeiting.

*National Development Plan:*

​We pledge to reintroduce the good practice of periodic National Development Plan to guide government activities and programmes.

ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU MANIFESTOES

​The APC presidential candidate, according to a press statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Director of Media and Communication, said his team would lead Nigeria to a new era of economic prosperity, peace, security and political stability.

​Tinubu, the pace-setting Governor of Lagos State between 1999-2007, presented his vision within five thematic areas.

1. He promised to improve security by decentralizing the policing of the country and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs simultaneously.

2. He promised to transform Nigeria into an enviable country and one where there will be justice, equity, fairness, peace and prosperity for all, with a “robust economy”.

​Titled ‘My Vision for Nigeria’, Tinubu promised in the document, *“A nation transformed into greatness, the pride of Africa, a role model for all black people worldwide, and respected among all other countries.”*

3. “A vibrant and thriving democracy and a prosperous nation with a fast-growing industrial base, capable of producing the most basic needs of the people and exporting to other countries of the world.

4. “A country with a robust economy, where prosperity is broadly shared by all irrespective of class, region, and religion.

5. “A nation where its people enjoy all the basic needs, including a safe and secure environment, abundant food, affordable shelter, health care, and quality primary education for all.

6. “A nation founded on justice, peace, and prosperity for all.”

​On economy, Tinubu promised to build an economy that will make the nation’s Gross Development Product (GDP) grow quicker annually for the next four years while also providing jobs for millions of youths in the country.

7. He also promised to launch a new National Industrial Policy focused on special intervention to reinvigorate specific strategic industries.

8. “I will focus on stimulating jobs, which will be my top priority as President. I will get Nigeria to work by launching a major public works programme, a significant and heavy investment in infrastructure, and value-adding manufacturing and agriculture.

9. “My administration will build an efficient, fast-growing, and well-diversified emerging economy with a real GDP growth averaging 12 per cent annually for the next four years, translating into millions of new jobs during this period,” he said.

10. Tinubu also promised to create six new Regional Economic Development Agencies, which will establish sub-regional industrial hubs to exploit each zone’s competitive advantage and optimize their potential for industrial growth.

11. The Presidential candidate also pledged to formulate a new National Policy on Agriculture to boost food production.

12. He pledged to promote the establishment of new commodity exchange boards, while also strengthening the one in Lagos in order to guarantee minimum pricing for agricultural products such as cotton, cocoa, rice, soya beans, corn, palm kernel, and groundnuts.

13. On infrastructure, Tinubu promised to “Build A New Nigeria (BANN)” by developing a National Infrastructure plan, which will cover strategic roads, bridges, rail, water, power, seaports and airports spanning the length and breadth of the country.

14. He said his administration would combine government funding, borrowing, public private partnership, private sector financing and concession to initiate a medium and long-term financial model for the BANN initiative.

*Electricity:*

15. Tinubu further stated that his administration would target an electricity distribution goal of *15,000 megawatts* across the country and ensure a sustainable 24/7 supply.

​“On Electricity, I will embark on a renewed action-oriented focus and take immediate and urgent action on resolving existing challenges of power generation plants, gas purchasing, pricing, transmission, and distribution. My administration’s critical goal is to have 15,000 megawatts distributable to all categories of consumers nationwide to ensure 24/7 sustainable supply within the next four years,” he added.

16. On the oil and gas sector, Tinubu said there would be no need for a subsidy, because the market will be open and transparent.

​“Supply will come from local refineries, and the forces of demand and supply will determine the price of petroleum products.

17. “My administration will establish a National Strategic Reserve for Petroleum Products to stabilise supply during unexpected shortages or surplus periods. This will eliminate any form of product shortages and prevent wild swings in prices.”

18. Tinubu also spoke about his administration’s promise in the area of education, promising to increase the spending on education to 25 percent of the nation’s budget.

19. He promised to continue the free school feeding programmeof the APC, feeding “millions of primary school children across the country.”

*ASUU Strike:*

20. On tertiary education, Tinubu said his administration would eradicate strikes by tertiary institution workers by encouraging the tertiary institutions to source for funds through grants and corporate sponsorships, with all the institutions granted financial autonomy.

21. Just like education, Tinubu also promised to increase the funding for health care in the annual budget to 10 percent.  According to him the National Health Insurance Scheme would be re-launched to grant health insurance cover to most Nigerians.

​This nirvana, according to the presidential candidates, begins the moment you cast your ballot in their favour on 25 February, 2023, that is if you have registered to vote.Thesummary of their manifestoes is that Nigerians will live peacefully, ethnicity will be forgotten, there will be an end to kidnapping and all forms of insecurity, stable electricity, improved welfare packages for Nigerians both the young and the aged, improvement in education and health sectors and what! Corruption will suddenly vanish like fairy dust.

​Not content with this, they are assuring Nigerians that once they are in office, they will provide you with patriotic and competent leadership that will be fair and just to all, and to ensure fairness and justice at all levels of governance.

​Suddenly, some politicians who were once ethnic bigots have realised they can work with anyone and that this thing called ‘tribe’ only exists in the fertile imagination of those they brand guilty of “hate speech”.

​So remarkable is the transformation that if one was a visitor with no knowledge of Nigeria’s history, one would easily applaud the level of maturity, openness and genuine concern oozing from the mouths of these leaders and crafted by their behind-the-scenes public relations machinery.

​As the 2023 elections draw nearer, electorates must look beyond the fancy campaign speeches and gilt-edged manifesto launches and remember that they have heard all these promises before.

​Not only that, it is worth mentioning that the majority of these candidates were part and parcel of the Grand Coalition that brought the present Government led by President MuhammaduBuhari in 2015 and therefore share the blame equally for its failures and successes.

​They cannot suddenly put on angelic garb and claim to have the magic bullet to Nigeria problems.

​It is a truism that people get the leaders they deserve. What you see in public is a mask.

​What Nigeria has today is not the most ideal of candidates, but as voters the decision comes in less than eight weeks.

​Given such a narrow field in terms of vision, sorting out the chaff from the wheat will be a difficult decision, but one each individual voter must make on their own, and live with.