The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Thursday assured that his government, if elected, will not scare away investors, but rather, fight and eliminate corruption.
He also stated that Nigeria as a country, has the capacity to build its own refineries.
Tinubu stated this during a consultative forum with the Federation of Construction Industry In Nigeria (FOCI) in Abuja.
His words: “We don’t want to scare away investors of today and tomorrow, but we promise you, we will eliminate corruption. Part of it is that we look at ourselves too? Not just enforcement but to reduce the propensity for corruption.”
According to him, his mission is to better position Nigeria as a prosperous country for the coming generation saying this is crucial to achieving sustainable security.
“What we must look at are numerous but our destination is a prosperous, better Nigeria, not for me as an individual but for our Children and their Children. If we fail to invest in the future of those children and we take ours away to foreign country for better education, neglecting the children of the poor, the result is what we are seeing today in the form of insecurity. They become a threat to your own investment,” he said.
The former governor of Lagos state also stressed the need to have a Construction Bank which could guarantee long term loans for the players in the industry.
He stated: “One question of Construction bank, we will look at that, you are the people who will subscribe to its ownership, we can only support it as a government in time of its policy.
“What is the problem with long term funding instruments? Is it because of the reserves that are lacking that we don’t have a bond instrument that will be of 30 years tenure.
“If you have a bond that will be of 30 years tenure, you already have a bank, but if you get that integrated in the system, anybody in the construction industry will recognize the need for us to have that long term money.”
“And why is the market not trading on that long term instrument? Get that assurance from me because I know how I’m not Mr. Sell it all. The symbol of my party is the broom. Sweep it clean, bring about the good of the society.”
The APC presidential candidate lamented that since he grew up, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has been the same, stressing that the bank has no dynamic innovation to even create a secondary market in the housing industry.
He added: “Changing the bottlenecks in the area of construction, tender processes, transparency. I know you have noticed so much change since Fashola took over, we did some of these things together when he was the Chief of Staff of Lagos and I was Governor.”
Tinubu reiterated his determination to ensure security of lives and property.
“What we must look at are numerous but our destination is a prosperous, better Nigeria, not for me as an individual but for our Children and their Children. If we fail to invest in the future of those children and we take ours away to foreign country for better education, neglecting the children of the poor, the result is what we are seeing today in the form of insecurity. They become a threat to your own investment,” he added.
