State why he withdrew from his alliance with Obi
• Promise to eradicate illiteracy
With only one month and five days left for Nigerians to decide who will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has expressed optimism about landing the top job in the country, saying he understands “Nigeria’s problems. “and if elected, will replicate, in the middle, some of the successes he recorded during his eight years as governor of Kano State.
The NNPP candidate also took the Labor Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, to the cleaners at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), yesterday, when he took his turn at the conclusion of the three-day Nigeria 2023 Election series organized by the renowned institution.
Kwankwaso said the party withdrew from discussions on an alliance with the LP because the party was “carried away by media hype” and was built on “ethnicity and religion”.
When asked if he would consider resigning and working with LP candidates, he said: “I have a PhD in civil engineering. I check what your candidates have. I have been in the system for over 30 years now. I have been a civil servant for 17 years. I am not a trader.
“I was the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1992. I was at the constitutional conference as an elected delegate. I was the governor of Kano state for eight years.
I was in the Senate. If anyone wants Kwankwaso to step down, let’s bring criteria and choose the best.
He said: “The issue of Labor… you see, that is the issue we have. The gentleman who asked, I believe is from a certain part of Nigeria and belongs to a certain group.
“Whenever I have a better candidate, I am ready to talk to them. If you have a party, which is based on ethnicity and religion…that is the difference between the Labor Party and our party, which is the national party.
“Let me tell you that I was one of those who initially wanted to work with the Labor Party. Unfortunately, at that time, the Labor Party was in serious media hype and therefore, they could not see the reason and still do not see the reason.
“Why do you say I have to back down? I wish you didn’t have to go to that extent. You will say that I should consider working with Labor Party or PDP or APC. People here don’t even know what’s going on. I want to say that our party, NNPP, is the only growing party in Nigeria today.
“We have seen the maximum any party, especially the Labor Party, can do. For us, it is like Andrew’s Liver Salt. It came with a lot of hype and now, it has come down. Just to note. Our party, the NNPP, is the only party that now get support. Forget about big people who are really the problem of our country.”
KWANKWASO also preached on the other two main candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Peoples Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar, who have thrown mud and bricks at each other for the past few days.
Although he did not mention his name once, the audience seemed to know who he was addressing.
Kwankwaso, who spoke on ‘Service Delivery and Policy Alternatives’, was in a bullish mood as he outlined his plans for the country during his about 35-minute speech.
Before delivering his address, he put his hand over his opponent’s eyes, telling the moderator, Dr. Alex Vines: “The difference between me and the other candidates is that we are in the air, while we are on the ground.”
That, perhaps, was just the opening jab compared to the flurry of punches that then landed in the absence of the three main rivals during the question and answer session.
He blamed the country’s woes, such as “increasing poverty, increasing unemployment, weak institutions, oil theft,” among others, on the choices made by successive governments since 1999, when the current democratic dispensation began under PDP President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“We are where we are because of the mistakes and wrong choices our leaders have made over the last 24 years,” he said, adding: “I understand the problem and we have a plan.”
The former governor said the country needs visionary leaders, especially for a country whose population will reach 400 million by 2050. “The leaders our country needs are not those who will come and do business as usual,” he told half the room.
He listed “increasing non-oil revenues, increasing crude oil production to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC targets, targeting inflation, preventing corruption, waste and theft” as some of the policy agenda.
In more than 130 million Nigerians living in poverty, the NNPP flag bearer announced: “We have a practical plan to lift Nigerians out of poverty” and even “insist that those who come out of poverty do not return” there.
He also outlined the party’s plan to address social issues, stating that out-of-school children and girls’ education would be front burners.
He said the party’s plan was actually a revolution. “Our revolution in the education sector will be guided by the philosophy that education is a public good.” With this background, “we will reform the education sector as a whole. We will eliminate illiteracy in Nigeria.
Kwankwaso promised that the problem of two million children out of school will be solved within four years. He said his government, upon coming in, would make all examinations, such as JAMB, WAEC and NECO free.
“This was successfully implemented in Kano for eight years when I was governor,” he said.