The presidency continued the good-old practice of town-hall meetings on Saturday, April 23, as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was answering multiple questions from about 100 pressure groups. The meeting took place at the Ikeja Airport Hotel, Lagos.

The participants received answers on a wide range of topics: from fuel scarcity to the Yuan deal, from power supply to the entertainment industry in Nigeria.

1. On leadership

“President Muhammadu Buhari and I (the vice president) are completely committed to providing competent leadership. We have no other agenda. We acknowledge there are pains but they are just birth pains. This is
not the end.”

2.On N5,000 monthly stipend

“We are currently compiling the social register for the poor and as soon as the budget is passed, we will begin to pay 5,000 naira to the poor.”

3.On stealing and corruption

“It cuts across all ethnic groups in
Nigeria. We must decide to become a new tribe of Nigerians. We must disallow division. We must also disallow the use of religion and ethnicity.”

4.On fuel crisis

“The NNPC is currently the only one importing refined fuel. We are in the process of providing a final solution to the fuel scarcity.”

5.On public vs private refineries

“Private refineries run better. We are seeking private investments in co-managing the refineries. Some parties have indicated interest in the private refineries including the oil majors.”

6.About Nigerian entertainment

“With the entertainment sector, we are working on solutions to piracy including technology options, active advocacy and
better collaboration between the
Entertainment industry and the
government.”

7.On Lagos-Calabar railway project

“It is in the budget. The most effective way of moving goods is by rail. Consequently, the Lagos-Calabar and Lagos-Kano rails are included in the budget.”

8.On power generation

“Nigeria recorded a peak of 5,000MW in February. We paid outstanding debts and curtailed vandalism. But the Forcados pipeline caused a drop of
about 500MW. We are currently working on improving the supply of gas to power plant and fixing transmission line problems.
“We have removed fixed tariff charges.
You only pay for what you use. We are also engaged with labour unions on cost reflective tariffs.”

9.On the Yuan deal

“The deal is we have some credit with the Chinese, so doing business with the Chinese can be done without the dollar. The Yuan deal will help facilitate trade with China and also help the ease
of doing business.”

10. On assets declaration

“We want a country where anyone who holds public office must be able to explain their wealth.”

11.On human rights

“Nobody can enforce any type of right by violence. The use of violence to dispossess others is unacceptable!”

12.On helping small and medium businesses

“We also intend to bring loans to SME’S at single digit interest rates.”

13.On the following meetings with Nigerians

“We will continue with the town-hall meetings across the country. You will be notified on the next one. Together, Nigeria will prevail.”.

Source: https://www.naij.com/809016-n5000-payments-will-soon-take-off-12-takeaways-townhall-meeting-vp.html?source=index_main

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