By Tom Chiahemen
Sokoto state governor and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has promised that if elected president in 2019, he would address the environmental and infrastructure problems in the south east, which include erosion and bad roads.
He made the pledge on Tuesday during campaign stops in Abia and Anambra states.
In Umuahia, the Abia state capital, Tambuwal told Governor Okezie Ikpeazu that he’s on a mission to rescue a Nigeria that is polarized along ethnic and religious lines and facing poverty, infrastructure deficit and security challenges.
On various calls for the restructuring of the country, Tambuwal assured the Abia governor that he identified with those calls and would take steps to achieve a restructured federation if elected president.
He said Nigeria needs a president who understands the country’s problems and not ‘a bigot and a nepotistic dictator’ who has shut his ears to the cries of the people.
“We are here on a mission to rescue Nigeria. You will agree with me that today, our country is highly polarized along ethnic and religious lines. We are also faced with serious security challenges, a deficit in infrastructure, poverty, unemployment and mounting foreign debts.
“The call for restructuring of this country is very loud and clear. I believe in it and if elected president, we shall work towards carrying out restructuring for the betterment of our country.
“We can do that only if we have a candidate who knows what the issues are; not a president that will be a bigot, a nepotistic dictator who would shut his ears against the cries of his people,” Tambuwal said.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives told Governor Ikpeazu that as he passed through the bad roads of the south east, he could see clearly what the region’s major challenges are.
He said if elected president, he would work with the south east states to remedy the situation of the roads, as well as, provide job opportunities for the youth and ensure that small scale industries in Abia and other states continue to survive and thrive.
Tambuwal promised that if elected, he would introduce policies that would improve and sustain manufacturing in the south east.
On the region’s well known ecological and environmental challenges, Tambuwal said his approach would involve a transparent deployment and utilization of the ecological fund to the states. He further pledged to reorganize the NNPC, to ensure that exact amount of revenue accruing to the nation from oil industry operations can be determined.
“I came here from Port Harcourt through Owerri, and I can bear testimony to poor state of roads in this part of our country. This is another issue on which if elected, the federal government, together with the south-east state governments, shall work to find a solution.
“We need to provide job opportunities for our youth and to ensure that those small and medium scale industries in Abia and other parts of the country continue to survive. We shall also initiate and introduce policies that will encourage our people in Aba and the rest of the South-East to improve and sustain their production efforts.
“The ecological and environmental challenges in the South-East will be addressed through transparent deployment and utilization of the Ecological Fund to states.
“We would also need to re-organize the NNPC to ensure that its operations are transparent in such a way and matter that the exact resources that accrue to the federal government would be easily ascertained,” Tambuwal said.
Responding, Governor Ikpeazu said the task of choosing a presidential candidate for the PDP is a serious one given the challenges facing the country.
He described Tambuwal as a brilliant man who has a clear understanding of the issues confronting the nation.
The Abia governor assured Tambuwal that Abia PDP deligates would do a thorough soul search and choose a presidential candidate with the requisite experience and character.
He said Nigerians should not be living in fear in their own country.
“The assignment before us as a party and indeed Nigerians is a very serious and challenging one. It even requires spiritual intervention from God our creator who makes all things possible. The fate of this entity called Nigeria is beckoning for assistance. Anybody sitting in home or state as an enclave is deceiving himself. The question as to who really owns this country is already arising.
“I have no doubt in my mind that you, as a brilliant person has a good understanding of the issues that confront us today. If we are looking for people who don’t respect the rule of law, and people who don’t understand how the three arms of government work together in a democracy, it shouldn’t be a lawyer like Tambuwal.
“Abia delegates to the PDP national convention will not be sentimental. We shall search our souls and vote for a presidential candidate with the requisite experience and character.
“What we fail to do in Port Harcourt will have adverse effects on the people of Abia state who are found in every nook and cranny of Nigeria.
“There’s no reason that in this 21st century, Nigerians should be living in perpetual fear anywhere they find themselves. People are speaking in hushed tones and we shall have the opportunity to confront these issues in Port Harcourt on the 6th and 7th of this month,” Governor Ikpeazu told Tambuwal.
Addressing delegates at the PDP secretariat in Umuahia, Tambuwal reiterated his determination to unite the country if elected, and address the environmental challenges in the south east.
Describing himself as qualified for the presidency and knowledgeable about what the issues are, Governor Tambuwal assured Abia delegates that as president, he would provide the requisite infrastructure for trade and commerce to thrive in Abia and other parts of the south east.
“Our nation is polarized along ethnic and religious lines and our people are raising many questions on many issues. I’m here to tell you that I am qualified and knowledgeable about what the issues are and prepared to address them.
“I will address issues of environmental degradation and the erosion menace in Abia and other parts of the south east.
“I will equally provide the enabling environment for trade and commerce to thrive in Abia and other parts of the geopolitical zone,” Tambuwal said.
In his response, the Abia state chairman of the PDP, Hon. Johnson Onuigbo, praised Tambuwal as possessing all of the qualities needed in a Nigerian president.
He said everything must be done to ensure that Buhari does not continue as president in 2019, as that would be disastrous for the nation.
“There’s no politician in Abia that doesn’t know your antecdents. You are one politician in this country that we admire. All the qualities that we require in a president, you possess them.
I pray that God will touch the hearts of the delegates because if we miss the opportunity to pick the right candidate, Buhari will come back and it will be disastrous for this nation,” Onuigbo told Tambuwal.
In Awka, Anambra state, Tambuwal told party delegates and supporters that the current government had no plans for the south east.
“The mindset of President Muhammadu Buhari on the South-East was very clear from the beginning of his administration,” he said.
He said as president, one of his major priorities would be to provide a platform for Nigerians to come together to discuss the country’s future.
Tambuwal said if elected president, one of the first bills he would send to the National Assembly would be for a review of the revenue sharing formula, to ensure that states would have enough resources to provide dividends of democracy for their peoples.
Tambuwal assured Anambra PDP delegates that if elected, he would take steps to address the environmental problems in the state, as well as, resolve the lingering dispute over oil wells between the state and Kogi.
“We shall open up discussions on Nigeria, and it will become a major responsibility of my administration to provide the platform for Nigerians to come together, sit down and discuss the future of their country.
“I know and appreciate the peculiar problems of the south-east. Erosion control will be tackled with all seriousness while the dispute between Anambra and Kogi state over oil wells will be revisited and amicably resolved so that Anambra state will get resources from her oil deposits, with which to provide services to her people.
“And one of the first bills that the Executive under me would send to the National Assembly will be on the review of the revenue sharing formula, so that states can have enough resources to provide dividends of democracy to their people.
“Anambra is endowed with well educated, hardworking and dedicated people, and I assure you that if elected president of Nigeria, Anambra state will have a pride of place in my government,” Tambuwal said.
Responding to Tambuwal, the Anambra state chairman of the PDP, Sir Ndubuisi Nwobu, made a case for a president of Igbo extraction in the future, urging that for starters, the PDP should choose a Vice President from the south east in 2019.