….urges citizens to hold non-performing governors accountable
The National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Bashiru has stated that the basis of the programmes being put in place by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government were designed to take back Nigeria to the path of socioeconomic productivity, probity, prudence, accountability and prosperity.
The APC National Scribe noted that the President has already taken the bull by the horns right from the day he was sworn-in hence the seamless and steady implementation of the policies to ensure a rebirth in all sectors of the economy.
Senator Bashiru urged the citizens to begin to assess the good performance or otherwise of their Governors in their various states as huge funds had been made available to them by the federal government to cushion the adverse effects of subsidy, bring succour to masses and champion the welfare and general wellbeing of their people in their respective states.
The APC National Secretary stated these on Thursday evening, during a media parley held at his residence, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital city to commemorate 2024 Eid-Ed-Fitr.
Bashiru underscored the need to rally round the Tinubu led-government as he continues to strive hard to tackle major challenges in the areas of power, agriculture, education, health, infrastructure among others.
The former Senate Spokesman attributed the ongoing rebirth and sanitisation exercise in all sectors of the economy by the Tinubu led-federal government to the need to reclaim the lost glory and place Nigeria to her rightful position as an African leading light and pacesetter.
He noted that the emergence of President Tinubu was a blessing to the country and her citizens as seen in his avowed commitment to put the country on a sure footing in all aspects of the economy.
“Right from the first day of his inauguration, the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had decided to take the bull by the horns. He has decided to take back Nigeria to the path of productivity, probity, prudence, accountability and posterity, and that is the basis of the programmes that President Tinubu has put in place.
“Starting from the fuel subsidy. Fuel subsidy has become source of corruption for Nigerian government and it has also become an hindrance to meaningful -productive infrastructural engagement of our people. So, by removal of the fuel subsidy, it made it possible for a huge amount of money to be available not only to the federal government but to the state governments and Local Governments to tackle myriad of infrastructural challenges and welfare of our people. So, any governor that is not performing, kindly ask them what has happened to the huge amount of resources that has been made available for them after the removal of the fuel subsidy”, Bashiru added.
The APC National Secretary averred that the President has set aside “Infrastructural Fund” by which a very huge infrastructural projects are being embarked upon disclosing that one of them is coastal highway that would pass through about eight to nine states.
“You will also see that the President has set aside what we called Infrastructural Fund by which very huge infrastructural projects are being embarked upon. One of them is coastal highway that would pass through about eight to nine states that is going to signal development in that corridor for our people.
“Aside that, major challenges in the areas of power, agriculture and lot more are also being tackled by the President. So, kudos to him. He has decided to take the bull by the horns.
“Another subsidy that has to be removed is naira subsidy. It is sad that our country has become a place where people come to undermine the integrity of our economy, integrity of our people by trading maliciously in our currency. But because we have a president who has taken the bull by the horns and stop a rental economy whereby someone will collect 100million naira at 210 and within a matter of minutes, and sell it at 800 naira and without engaging in any productive activity that is why our economy is gaining strength gradually.
“I listened to Apostle Sulaiman on a national television where he was saying that when dollar was going up to become 1,850 naira some were shouting and happy but now that dollar is coming down to 1120 to 1150 they are not celebrating. Is it that the people take joy in wishing Nigeria to have bad luck just because they want to score political points?
“So, the removal of Nigeria naira subsidy would see to the need for our country to compete favourably and internationally and have a true value for naira. True value of naira is better than what it is today and by the grace of God we are going to get the true value of naira based on genuine market economy and productive economy”, the APC National Scribe stated.
In the area of security, Senator Bashiru eulogized President Tinubu for modernizing and restructuring security sector which in turn would go a long way to repositioning the sector for the betterment of all.
Bashiru who acknowledged the fact that the present administration inherited myriad of security challenges lauded the President for being alive to his responsibilities.
“The prompt action taken by Mr President to be able to rescue the school children that were taken away in Kaduna State and also the collaboration with many states to strengthen security apparatus speak to the commitment of President Tinubu to security and of course, his commitment to state policing and the decentralization of the police.
“When it comes to public service reforms, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has brought probity to public service. The overhead being expended on foreign travels had been reduced and work is ongoing on streamlining agencies of government with a view to reducing cost of governance. Even President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to his credit, has been living on a lean purse. That is the kind of example and sacrifice that President Tinubu is making for us to be able to stand firm in the comity of nations.
”When you know what happened to Venezuela, Argentina and other oil rich nations who decided not to take the bull by the horns and return to productive economy, you would give kudos to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for taking us back to genuine economy. I just came back from Saudi Arabia. It is also an oil rich nation, when we used to go there, there was no Value Added Tax (VAT) but now there is 19 percent VAT. Their hotels are now commercially priced. Their services are now commercially priced. Because hydrocarbons will cease one day, we need to diversify and engage in productive economy.
“As regards electricity, yes, for a very long time, we have been paying leap service to quality electricity service all over the world. Electricity is capital intensive, you need to have competition for you to be able to bring down the price. I remember, when telecommunication started with monopoly, everybody was groaning as to the service but today with competition, we have overcome it. I believe that with the ongoing reform in the electricity sector and with the commitment to engage private sector in that area and with the opportunity that the National Assembly had given to the states to engage in power generation, the price of energy will go down because there will be serious competition in that sector.
“In all, for every society that is seeking for a rebirth, a society that is seeking for a lasting legacy for its people, it must pay the sacrifice now. As the President said that he can feel the challenges, he can feel our pains and as a political party (APC), we can feel the challenges and we can feel the pains but we are confident that there is a bright light at the end of the dark tunnel. This is the path we must take to take back our country to the path of productivity, path of prudence and path of posterity”, Bashiru added.
