The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said the mission of its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is to stop the rapid erosion of Nigeria’s commonwealth.
The party was reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s recent swipe at Obi over the erosion menace in Anambra State.
In a statement signed by its Spokesperson, National Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Chiogo Ikokwu, the NDC said Obi’s mission was much bigger than the issue raised by the President.
He said the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket is focused on addressing the contradiction between the gains expected from fuel subsidy removal, the administration’s frequent borrowing, and the persistent underfunding of national budgets.
Ikokwu noted: “Nigerians deserve to know what has happened to the promised fiscal benefits of subsidy removal, particularly against the backdrop of the administration’s frequent borrowing, increased revenue generation, poor debt-service-revenue-ratio and inadequate funding of critical public services like health and education.”
The NDC stressed that Obi/Kwankwaso would not allow Nigeria to continue borrowing at an alarming rate without corresponding benefits, while citizens endure worsening poverty, unemployment, insecurity and declining purchasing power.
The party compared the financial records of Obi and Tinubu as former governors.
It said Obi left the equivalent of $500 million in investment as well as local and foreign currency, including $156 million in dollar-denominated bonds, when he left office in Anambra State in 2014.
In contrast, it said available Debt Management Office figures put Lagos State’s external debt at approximately $190.43 million at the end of 2007, when Tinubu handed over to his successor.
The NDC also accused Tinubu of aiding the erosion of Lagos public finance by signing into law a pension law granting former governors and deputies, including himself, lifetime pensions equivalent to 100 per cent of the basic salary of the incumbent governor, houses in Lagos and Abuja, multiple vehicles, furniture allowance, utility allowance, entertainment allowance, free medical care, house maintenance allowance, domestic staff provision, and other benefits.
It said the package was so outrageous that a successive governor was compelled to slightly review the law. In contrast, it said Obi never set up pensions for governors in Anambra State.
“The Obi/Kwankwaso ticket offers Nigeria the golden opportunity to make fundamental departure from President Tinubu’s borrowing-dependent and erosion of public funds model of governance towards Obi/Kwankwaso prudent management of public resources, accountability, productive investment and measurable improvements in citizens’ welfare,” the party said.
The NDC warned that a debt-dependent economic model without accountability contributed to the decline of powerful empires and nations throughout history, citing the Ottoman Empire, 19th-century Egypt, Argentina and Zambia.
“If not stopped, Nigeria is in serious trouble,” it said.
On erosion in Anambra, the party said Obi bravely tackled gully erosion in the state, helped attract and launch the World Bank Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), mandated new state roads to include proper drainage connected to safe discharge points, and executed local flood controls such as concrete drains in Adazi Nnukwu, Amawbia, Umuoji, among others.
It added that Obi regularly lobbied the federal government for ecological intervention funds with accountability.
“The bottom line is that Obi-Kwankwaso mission is about stopping fiscal recklessness and the erosion/decimation of Nigeria’s commonwealth, while providing economic opportunities for Nigerians today and for future generations,” it said.