Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidates of the main opposition PDP and the ruling APC have released their economic agendas ahead of the 2023 presidential election
Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidates of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress respectively, have released their economic agendas ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
Atiku, who unveiled on Thursday what he called ‘The three guiding principles of my economic agenda’, promised to give the private sector a greater role in the economy.
The former vice president said his administration would break government monopoly in all sectors of the economy including infrastructure.
He vowed to allow the market a greater leverage in determining the prices, which would aid in eliminating the frequent price distortions in the country.
He added that his administration would reposition the public sector to focus on its core responsibilities.
Atiku stressed that to achieve the economic agenda, he would be guided by the three principles.
He said he would “reaffirm the critical sector of private leadership and greater private sector participation in development, while repositioning the public sector to focus on its core responsibilities of facilitation and enabling appropriate legal framework for rapid economy and social development.
He said he would break government monopoly in all infrastructural sectors including the refineries rail transportation and power submission and give private investors a larger role in funding and managing the sectors, thus emulating the benefits accrued in the oil and gas and telecom sector.
Atiku said he would “allow the market greater leverage in determining the prices; this way we shall eliminate the persistent price distortions occasioned by current interventionist exchange rate management policy.”
“Government interventions, where absolutely necessary, will be done responsibly and judiciously,” he said.
Atiku, who was also PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, again won the party’s presidential ticket during a special national convention held in Abuja on May 28 and 29.
The primary, which was held at the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, saw him defeat 11 other aspirants after scoring 371 votes.
Tinubu, who emerged the flag-bearer of APC on Wednesday, said his team would lead Nigeria to a new era of economic prosperity, peace, security and political stability.
The former governor of Lagos State, in what he titled ‘My Vision for Nigeria’, promised that Nigeria would be transformed into greatness, the pride of Africa, a role model for all black people worldwide, and respected among all other countries.
He promised to build an economy that will make the nation’s Gross Development Product grow quicker annually for the next four years while also providing jobs for millions of youths in the country.
He also promised to launch a new national industrial policy focused on special intervention to reinvigorate specific strategic industries.
He said: “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 program, a significant and heavy investment in infrastructure, and value-adding manufacturing and agriculture.
“My administration will build an efficient, fast-growing, and well-diversified emerging economy with a real GDP growth averaging 12 percent annually for the next four years, translating into millions of new jobs during this period.”
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 optimise their potential for industrial growth.
The APC presidential candidate vowed to formulate a new national policy on agriculture to boost food production.
He promised 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.
On his ‘Build A New Nigeria (BANN)’ initiative, he said he would develop a national infrastructure plan, which would cover strategic roads, bridges, rail, water, power, seaports, and airports spanning the length and breadth of the country.
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.
“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.
