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As campaigns kick off… What will political parties tell Nigerians?

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Nigerians are obviously fed up with several years of empty, failed promises by politicians and wish they could hear something fresh, appealing, convincing this time around.

Besides the citizens, investors and the global community would be wondering what else the political parties and their standard bearers would be saying as campaigns for the 2019 general election begin today, Sunday 18, November, 2018.

The 2019 general election will be keenly contested, and some analysts say it is a straight contest between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which have swapped roles as ruling party and opposition parties.

Will they resort to the normal superfluous promises of making Nigeria the biblical Canaan; the land that flows with milk and honey via good governance; provision of infrastructure, creation of Jobs, provision of security for the people, eradication of poverty, quality education, among others?

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable, Presidential and National Assembly election campaigns will commence today (November 18), while that of governorship and state assembly elections will begin on December, 1.

In a warning to political parties to adhere to the timetable, Mahmoud Yakubu, INEC chairman said: “Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act prohibits campaigns by political parties earlier than 90 days before polling day.

“I call upon political parties and candidates to strictly adhere to the dates issued by the commission”.

In retrospect, the 2015 general election, the most recent, was heralded by a lot of promises in addition to character assassination orchestrated by the then ruling party, PDP, and the then newly formed opposition, the APC.

While the PDP and its Presidential candidate, the then President Goodluck Jonathan promised eradication of poverty, improved health, education and other essential services, APC and its Presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari pitched their campaign on the tripod of security, economy and fight against corruption.

APC and Buhari won elections on the back of these campaign promises but after three years of the administration, the general assessment is that while many of the promises have not been fulfilled, a few have been haphazardly touched, which falls beyond expectations.

This is just as the promise of repositioning the economy with the creation of 12 million jobs has not come to pass but rather more jobs have been lost while dollar, which the highest exchange rate in May 2015 when the APC government took over from PDP was N199.3, is now N364.5.

The same situation applies to security where Boko Haram, the main security issue as at 2015 has continued to linger with scores killed last week even when the APC government claimed, Boko Haram has been “technically defeated”, while herdsmen go on killing spree.

On the fight against corruption which the administration claimed it has recorded huge success, analysts are of the opinion that it has largely been used as tool of witch-hunt against the opponents while corruption thrives right in the face of the government.

Frank Utov, an Abuja-based Legal Practitioner, Youth Activist and politician, while speaking on APC administration’s fight against corruption, said theparty came to power, having convinced Nigerians that it would fight corruption as promised during the campaign but has performed abysmally low on that project.

Utov asserted that rather, APC has deployed the fight against corruption as a potent weapon of fighting political opponent while members of the government holding appointments continue to perpetrate acts of corruption with impunity.

“The fight against corruption has been masqueraded as a fight against opponents. Since APC came on board, it has been fighting only those who were in power before its coming. But there has been massive corruption under the APC government. You look at the case of Babachir Lawal, former SGF who awarded the contract of cutting grass to his company for more than half a billion naira and he was defended by the President.

“We know about the contract saga at the NNPC where about $50 billion contract was awarded without following due process, and nothing was done. We know about the violation of due process in the purchase of the Tucano Jets which were not

appropriated. There are other acts of corruption under his nose and nothing is being done but attention has only been focused on those who held sway in the last administration”, the lawyer noted.

Nigerians have therefore urged parties and candidates seeking electoral offices this time around to make their campaign issue-based.

PDP has already disclosed that its campaign for the 2019 Presidential election will be focused on issues and solutions that have direct bearing on the welfare of Nigerians, similar to the promises that characterised its campaign for the 2015 general election.

Kola Ologbondiya, PDP National Publicity Secretary, who announced the campaign plan in Abuja said: “The PDP and our presidential candidate will focus on ensuring security. We will focus on how to increase the purchasing power of Nigerians as well as revamp our economy through strategic intervention in critical sectors, especially power, food security, road and railway infrastructure.

“We will also focus on education, energy, health, water provision, and labour issues, among others. The PDP will proffer direction to reduce cost of governance and release funds for development purposes; cut harsh tariff and tax regimes and eradicate corruption”.

APC has also provided the road map for its campaign for the 2019 general election with a renewed promise like any party seeking reelection to consolidate on its achievements, particularly in the fight against corruption, better security and the economy and may deploy the antecedents of other aspirants, especially for the office of the president, as a campaign tool.

Festus Keyamo, Director of Strategic Communication and Spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation gave insight into what APC campaign will look like when he declared: “I am sorry we are going into an election, they (PDP) said they don’t talk about the past and about the other people but that was in the past when the government spokespersons were only told to sell and promote government achievements.

“I am here to promote the achievements, to compare it with the opponent’s because we are in a competition. So don’t tell me not to talk about you when you are talking about me.

“Atiku Abubakar must run on his records. He cannot deceive Nigerians. He cannot run on promises. So, let’s get it clear from now on that Atiku Abubakar has a record in public office just like the President. What we can scrutinise is your record in public office. So, he has to run on that record, you cannot come and run on the record that I am a private businessman”.

With the templates set by the two dominant parties, APC and PDP, the question of what political parties will be telling Nigerians in the days ahead is more resounding as it is apparent that all what was contained in the parties’ manifestos for the 2015 general election may just be recopied and rehashed for the 2019 polls.

But political analysts are of the view that instead of resorting to the familiar promises of providing jobs, building infrastructure; roads, schools, hospitals, electricity, rejuvenating the economy, ensuring better security, eradicating poverty and the contentious promise of restructuring, political parties and their candidates should ensure that campaigns answer the specific questions of how and when such projects will be executed and programmes implemented while character assassination as well as ethno-religious colouration should be completely left out of the campaigns.

They advised Nigerians to be very conscious, curious and inquisitive to political parties and their candidates as they disseminate their campaign promises that are always made but not fulfilled, particularly as some of those parties and candidates had been in government and others currently in government.

Idacyth Hassan, director, Centre for Democracy and Development, advised that, “the work for the politician in the 2019 elections is clearly cut out, one is issue-based campaign, what are their programmes on sectoral basis with concrete implementation plans.

“It is foolhardy to rely on hate speeches, misinformation and stoking ethnic tension and expect they can sway the several undecided voters. It is also important that they sue for peace, the strategy is to canvass for vote and sue for peace and violence-free elections. Without such, there cannot be an election”.

Apaa Wombu, lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Mkar, Benue State, said the campaigns for the 2019 general election must be done differently as Nigerians are becoming more politically conscious and urged politicians to spell out the implementation plan and timelines for the programmes and policies enshrined in their campaign promises.

According to him, “Politicians and parties in the forthcoming elections should not be making vague promises that they will construct more roads; build more hospitals and restructure Nigeria, provide electricity, build more schools, provide more jobs.

“They should not be making elusive statements about white elephant projects. Let them explain how they can create jobs, empower women, create wealth and where they can get funds to execute the projects they promised to carry out.

“They should be talking about the specific strategies they will deploy to address the problems they have identified. In fact, political parties and their candidates should be able to tell us what they would do differently on economy, security, fight against corruption, power and infrastructure to add value to the lives of average Nigerians”.

 

James Kwen, Abuja

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