₦airaland Forum

Penguin2:
Brilliant postulations!

Like you said, it boils down priority.

But I don’t think Fayemi borrowing to build Cargo Airport in Ekiti is such a brilliant idea. Does Ekiti need an airport, Cargo or passenger? Just like Ebonyi doesn’t need an Airport. Can Ekiti feed the airport? Do they produce enough Agricultural products for their own consumption before we talk of export?

But I agree with you that if Buhari govt had deployed the billions they are using to build rail line from Kano to Maradi into the Power Sector, maybe Grid Collapse won’t be like a girl’s monthly period now.

But trust me, Peter Obi did what Anambra needed when he was governor. He got his priorities right. That’s why Anambra people revere him.

I think the government-owned farms in Ekiti should have given rise to the airport and not the airport necessitating the farms. The airport could also serve the students of ABUAD in Ado Ekiti.

PO is a proven wealth creator just like the late President Umar Musa Y'ardua. President Y'ardua was the best State Gov during his period as he was able to run the affairs of the State government effectively and still left reasonable amount of money in the coffers of the State while leaving. Reason OBJ had to choose him as his successor to manage the country.

Like you said, PO has a great record in Anambra undoubtedly but Gov Soludo may become their best Governor with this ambitious move if he can prioritize properly. I know Prof Soludo to be a transformer since banking reforms as CBN governor. I think he is about to transform Anambra in terms of infrastructure.

As much as this bill would have solved some problem in the power sector the issue of supplying the generated power to national grid is a bill killer!

America generates 1014TW per annum. This generation is made up of modular power plant that are perculiar to regions i.e coal, hydro, nuclear, gas & steam turbines, solar and winds. All these plants transmits and distribute the generated electricity within the localities but calculates the electricity generated on a national grid. This system made them achieve near 100% transmission and distribution of generated electricity.

Localized Independent power plants (IPPs) will solve the problem of power transmission and distribution in the country and result to more efficient power sector.

Penguin2:
Peter Obi ruled Anambra for 8 years without borrowing a dime.

The other I also read somewhere that Oyetola has not borrowed one naira so far as Osun governor.

Yet in less than 6 months into office, Soludo is already requesting to borrow #100billion.

I hope Anambra hasn’t made a mistake?

Gov Peter Obi,s achievement was payment of salaries & pensions, purchase of laptop for school children, creation of government farms. He didn't do much in terms of infrastructure.

Gov Oyetola did not do much infrastructure development in Osun and he did not achieve much except payment of salaries in Osun, couldn't even clear backlog, reason he lost elections coupled with the crisis he had with former Gov Aregbesola.

Gov Soludo,s move to borrow N100b for infrastructure development is a brilliant move. Infrastructure drives the economy and I believe in 30 years time the people of Anambra will remember the Gov and thank him for his leadership prowess.

Gov Fayemi of Ekiti State borrowed so much and was able to put in place a cargo airport, first of its kind in the State, with the promise that the state will now have the opportunity to transport her agricultural produce to the country to increase the IGR. We expect government owned farms to come on board too to actualise this dream since the economic mainstay is education and agriculture.

Borrowing for infrastructural development is a great leadership prowess. This should be matched with critical and strategic prioritization. Imagine PMB borrowing N36t ($75b) in 8 years to build a new single-train refinery to refine 650,000barrel/day and produce 50m ltrs of petrol daily for Nigerians like Dangote Refinery and ramp up power generation from 3.5GW to 30GW. This will bring relief to Naira and make it stronger against the Dollar. The country will also stop importation of petrol and the government may remove subsidy to have more revenue accrual. Also there will be electricity provided for the industries by the government which will reduce and eliminate the use of diesel-powered generator for operations and inturn reduce the cost of production. Steady electricity will also reduce data cost by 65% because diesel powered electricity generation accounts for 65% of data cost. All these put together will drive the economy by reducing cost of production and inturn reduce inflation rate, increase money supply to the government and inturn reduce interest rate and reduce exchange rate.

Compare these with building railways and bridges with N36t ($75b) in 8 years. Mass interstate transport is good for the economy but the impact isn't as significant as providing a Refinery and steady electricity for an economy like ours at this stage. That is the reason PMB still maintains that his government has done more in terms of infrastructure than the past administrations. That's true because he borrowed so much!

PMB would have solved a lot of the economic problem we have if he was able to prioritize the challenges properly. He made available so much money ($75b) but didn't use it effectively and the result is debt burden. Pretty soon we may be talking about bailout at the national level as we will be battling dwindling revenue at State level (hardship) because of NNPC Ltd.

My conclusion is borrowing can amount to a brilliant idea when deployed critically and strategically!

MosakuAW:
It was under Buahri regime, that I saw a video of a dog eating roasted corn.

Sapa reach animal under PMB

We all have different approach to the economy, that's the reason we need to stick to economic theories to harmonize all our perspectives or judge our 'intellect'. More like solving an arithmetic problem without using BODMAS.

Three critical infrastructure that will drive an economy are human resources, power and good transportation system. The parameters for rating the health of any economy are the inflation rate, interest rate and the Per Capital.

If PO have said he will drive the economy with infrastructure then I believe he is right. If the honourable minister disagrees with PO, with an undertone of local production of items, then we should consider these facts below:

* Dangote cement spent N189b in 2021 on power generation.
* Dangote Refinery has a dedicated power plant that can generate 400MW to move the Refinery. The cost of the power plant is $2b.
*Cost of production of goods and services have increased because of poor power supply and use of diesel for power generation as such leading to increase in inflation rate.
*The economy is withnessing a reduced supply of money as a result of low revenue to GDP ratio and as such leading to increase in interest rate and increased borrowings (debt trap). This will shrink the GDP and reduce Per Capital, given that population is controlled unlike Nigeria.
*If these trend continues, the economy will go into recession.

If the economy can collapse (recession) as a result of poor infrastructure then logically it can thrive on good state of infrastructure.

The honorable minister does not want to admit that, aside insecurity driving low FDI, these facts mentioned above will reduce FDI because investors will consider investing in the country as high risk because of high economic parameters.

Imagine a President Buhari,s government that came to power in 2015, met power generation at 5GW out of 20GW, spent 8 years by 2023 and leave with power generation still at 4GW out of 20GW. The same government has borrowed so much during this period with priority given to railways over electricity. I still believe scale of preference in economics should have prioritzed power over railways in an economy like Nigeria,s.

PO will sure tell you he will drive economy with infrastructure and he will be right!

God bless Nigeria!

Ojuntana:
I completely disagree!! If that were the case, Osinbajo would have won the APC primaries easily.
Those govs don't give two cents of a furk to whatever the VP says or does. Heck, during the time of Jonathan, NOI practically ran the NEC.
The govs hardly listen to the president on matters of their common interest not to mention his VP.
Just look at how the govs floored Buhari I'm there last primaries.
It's same reason Tinubu is finding it difficult to choose a Vice. The govs especially the northern ones who have him the ticket all want the pie.

HE Osinbajo should have won but lost to a more popular aspirant both in the North and South and also I feel delegates from the southwest did not vote for HE PYO because he didn't step down for HE BAT as all aspirants from the southwest have. Reason he can distant third to Amaechi. More so the voters were not the governors nor the statutory delegates that the governors are used to but elected delegates. HE BAT is more popular than HE PYO with proven political structure which is evident in the result of the primaries.
The Governors too wanted to display their political power by standing their ground against president Buhari during the primaries.
I feel there will be more ranchor between the presidency and the Governors in times of differences than there will be support in time of harmonization of government purpose.
Reason being they are both elected in there respective capacities and as such absolute.
I believe there is a bit of support from the governors to the vice president in times of harmonization of purpose.

Ojuntana:
Well, I can't begrudge you your right to believe what you believe.
The way you keep using HE for these politicians as if you're in a formal discussion
You actually remind me of one zombie who goes about advertising free stuffs. I hope it's not you
Anyways from Goodluck to Sambo to Osinbajo, I think experience has shown that the VP is very limited in influence and only gets to do as much as they're allowed to. So be it HE Zulum or Obama, he can do little in a dithering presidency.
But a Muslim Muslim ticket is a recipe for disaster.

Pardon my formalities if it irritates you. It is something I developed in the past as part of adding value to conversation.
The presidential system of government as practiced in Nigeria does not deter the vice president but assigns a different role to the office of the vice president. As the president is saddled with the responsibility of calling a Federal Executive Council meeting every week, the vice president is saddled with the responsibility of calling Federal Economic Council meeting once a month. It is believed that the vice president is more influential because he interfaces with governors of States and can build more cordial relationship with the grassroot. Since the president is the head of a presidential system of government and as such reserves the consent to almost all decisions in the government, it will be ambitious or treasonable, as the case may be, of a vice president wanting to make decisions. To me the VP is very instrumental in propagating government agenda and policies through the State Governors.

Ojuntana:
Let's hope the best for the country emerges

That's really a good note to end.

Ojuntana:
It's in such decision making that I know Tinubu can fare better. But in driving policy and implemention of policies to tangible goals, I doubt he can achieve much with a feeble health.

I believe he will do well. If the likes of Nelson Mandela of SA, Sir Winston Churchill of UK etc could lead successfully, I believe he can and even deliver on key economic turnaround policies. I believe HE Babangana Zulum of Borno state will make a great runningmate and can complement HE BAT regardless of Muslim-Muslim ticket. Religion has nothing to do with good governance. HE Zulum is a president in a moment and can help drive key government policies to fruition.

Ojuntana:
BAT will be limited by his health. It's very obvious. Not everyone who follows him around believes in him like you think. Look at all the facts. He's clashed with Aregbe, Fashola, Ambode etc. These are people who share the same ethnicity with him. Did you hear what babachir said about him when he gave the abeokuta speech? As we speak, he's finding it difficult to select a VP. Common VP o.

I can't convince you anymore that HE BAT will make a good leader regardless of his health!
Consider Nelson Mandela of SA, Sir Winston Churchill of UK, Theresa May of UK, Angela Markel of Germany. JFK of the United States. They are leaders with with health issues yet they excelled. He won't be the first to have health issues as a leader of a State and he won't be the last if he eventually makes the office.
His utterance in Abeokuta is as a result of gang up against him not to win the ticket. I know Babachir lawal said he made them look like a traitor in the North for following him with his statement but the statement was an outburst and it's conditional, it could happen to any human being. At last he got what he wanted.

Kwanza:
In the originating summons, the lawyer wants the court to determine “whether having regard to the clear, unambiguous and express provisions, sprit and tenor of ARTICLES 11 (A) (I), 12 (1) AND 13 (1) of the Constitution of the APC, 2014 (as amended), the special national convention of the 1st defendant held on the June 6 and June 7 was properly constituted as regards the composition of delegates who should attend and vote at the said convention.

“Whether having regard to the clear, unambiguous and express provisions, sprit and tenor of Section 33 (1) AND (5) (C ) of the Constitution of the PDP, 2017, (as amended), the special national convention of the 2nd defendant held on the May 28 and May 29 was properly constituted as regards the composition of delegates who should attend and vote at the said convention,” among others.

From the above I feel if APC's and PDP's candidates are disqualified as a result of locus of the delegates in both party then there can't be a replacement of candidates by the 2 parties. They stand disqualified.
My deduction from the above is that both parties should have amended their Constitution to reflect elected delegates instead of statutory delegates and the case is in both parties Constitution.
An argument may ensue from the party that if the national working committee is empowered to do anything in the best interest of the party them they can reverse the case to suit the parties.
The reason the parties used elected delegates which is not enshrined in their Constitutions is newly amended electoral act forbidding political office holders from voting or being voted for.
The parties had no time to amend their Constitutions to reflect the new amendment in electoral law!

The next level in elections in Nigeria is to commence electronic voting. This will increase the participation in voting and improve the quality of government entrenched by Nigerians.
At the moment, there are 150m internet subscribers on the GSM platform. It is also a fact that about 50% of the population are within the ages of 18-65 years(100m). If registered voters are about 50m as reported by INEC, then with the commencement of electronic voting votes could come from 90% of the voting age(18+) leaving the ages.
By them followership on social media will count and translate to real vote as against the saying that 'there is no polling unit on social media'
This will increase the participation of the elites in chosing the president and increase the quality of government!

Subsidywise20:
Good point...but Nigerians do not want subsidy to be removed.

Trust me on that....call for subsidy removal...and you must be a oppressor.

Still subsidy removal means fuel may cost N700-800...at the moment we subsidse fuel for 600 naira per liter. On the other hand, it is really damaging our economy.

You are correct by saying Nigerians don't want subsidy removal. The government need to implement policies that will improve the macroeconomics parameters.
For example president Buhari slammed 5% tax on Telecom aside VAT @ 7.5% knowing that Telecom contributes about N30t to the economy of N150t.
If subsidy is removed at the present landing cost of N280/ltr added to a N40 transportation cost of a ltr, the cost of a litre of petrol will be N350.
Removing the subsidy is not the only task that has to be done:
*The government has to increase power generation and provide steady power to businesses to reduce prices of items
*The government must produce petrol locally and reduce the pressure on Naira to increase money supply
*Reduce toxic borrowings and seek for moratorium on debt servicing to allow attend to the ailing economy and reduce spending on debt servicing
*Increase minimum wage to reduce public yearnings.
The country will be better for it.

Ojuntana:
Really?

GEJ did not end badly? The President Jonathan, the clueless one, badluck Jonathan the buffoon who ran the most corrupt govt and birthed dasukigate and maduekwe?

It is generally accepted that any govt that is voted out is a failure. Do you know one of Jonathan's faults and also Buhari's we their inability to entrench discipline in their cabinets and give a strong sense of direction?

If Tinubu can't be strong enough to monitor things and give sense of direction to his ministers, he will end as bad as Jonathan or Buhari.
Secondly, like I already said, there are some things that can be done at state level with Kyle rancor but will face serious issues at federal. Even TSA has not been fully implemented till now. Ippis is now looking like a bad thing. If you think the presidency is similar in challenges to governor then you haven't grasped the complexity of Nigeria.

BAT can do well, but his health challenges will be a major impediment and when shit hits the roof, he'll drop the ball. Look at the opposition to the ikorodu road demarcation you're talking about. Just imagine for example it is the restructuring of federal revenue to reflect production from each state you're talking about to be carried out by an ailing president. How will he defend it?

Every government has got its shortcomings. If you talk of dasukigate and maduekwe in president Jonathan's regime someone might tell you about transcorp Hilton under president Obasanjo and Mr Babachir lawal under president Buhari and the plague of debt trap.
As much as I don't support curruption in any form, I really don't want to rundown president Jonathan's administration even now that we have so many bad policies tearing the economy apart which is tantamount to incompetence; another form of curruption.

With regards to the issue of entrenching direction to the cabinet I think that is where HE BAT has prowess. Coordination of cabinet should not be an energy sapping activity. You need to give it to president Buhari for compoture and steadfastness in time of national crisis (#insecurity issues, #endsars & #Covid-19). Most times I think the reason for his courage during crisis is because he doesn't have an idea of the implication or magnitude of the situation. But with his bad health he is able to push through. Coordination of cabinet is about charisma which HE BAT has for sure. Even at old age they will still follow and act your scripts: evident in Hon Gbajabiamila saying he is indebted to HE BAT.
I don't think HE BAT will let go at any time during his administration considering his political influence across the nation but instead I expect him to be able to pull strings and propagate policies and fast track their implementation.
I believe he will put together a great team that will run a great government. I expect a lot of ambitious projects and unprecedented turnaround in key sectors of the economy.

Ojuntana:
Power generation is not the (direct) reason we have high inflation. We have high inflation primarily because we're an import dependent economy. Don't also underestimate corruption in our national life.

My pint is even if you generate power, if you still import toothpick and pizza, inflation will still be high.

I agree with you but will rather say that inflation is as a result of many bad policies presently been implemented by this government. Running production on diesel could be very expensive and inturn increase prices of goods and services. This will cause inflation. If there is regular power supply to industries, there will be reduction in increase in goods thereby reducing inflation considerably.
You will be surprised that in the cost of maintaining a Telecom base station, power takes 65% of the $3,000/month bill for a single base station. At the moment the country has 26,000 base stations. Imagine supplying regular public power to this base stations to replace the diesel power accounting for 65%, as data now is one of the items on the list of consumer price indexes for calculating inflation.
The inflation as a result of importation is because the Currency is depreciating against the dollar against which it is sought! To me it is mad for a government to be sourcing for dollar to import 60m ltrs/day of petrol for local consumption. That is too much pressure on your currency for God,s sake!
If a Refinery works in the country, it will relief this stress on Naira and inturn reduce the inflation as a result of importation.
Quite a number of other factors are responsible for inflation in Nigeria too. Lack of production and inadequate supply is causing inflation, not allowing a flexible forex causes inflation as a result of poor money supply to the economy, debt servicing is another and unnecessary CBN intervention in bailing out government over budget deficit causes inflation.

Ojuntana:
1. It is very simplistic to think all a president does is get the right people in govt and then go to sleep. GEJ had a very good cabinet too but we know how he ended.
3. If you think the Lagos model will work on Nigeria, consider that in 2003 when Tinubu wanted to start the new tax law, he faced stiff opposition from the corporate world more than even individuals. Go and find out what I'm telling you. Presently vat is hung up in supreme Court because most northern states don't want the status quo to change. Think about that.

Back to 1. Go and find out what those who worked with OBJ said about him. He was very hands on. There's no memo that appeared at fec that did not have his input. OBJ became president in his late fifties with good health. He was swift and sharp. If you think all the presidency entails is just gathering people who have diverse interests and mindsets, then you don't understand a thing about the problem facing this country and Africa as a whole.

1. HE GEJ did not end badly we are all leaving withness at the moment moreso he was not allowed to complete his governance but his economic parameters are better. The country would have ranked better if HE GEJ had returned when he lost elections (barring insecurity).
3. Every leader is faced with oppositions in policy formulation and implementation. HE BAT is not new to that. When he started demarcation of the Ikorodu expressway for dedicated BRT lane, people did more than going to court to stop him but look at it today. He also taxed businesses to fulfil their Civic responsibility, they hated him then and he took all the bad name but the state is better-off today. Even if he faces opposition in taxing the income in the economy, how he will deploy the money into governance will reduce the opposition.
Even when a man is hands-on he cannot be better than or do the job of 36 persons in the cabinet. That is how governance is. Getting the best to work for you! More like using people. Even though the work is collaborative: which is responsible for his hands-on, he wouldn't have excelled without their ideas.
The wise will adopt this rule and have people better than him in the cabinet to work for him.
A lot of the people in Obasanjo,s cabinet are better than him intellectually... Chuckwuemeka chikwelu, Frank Nweke Jnr etc but they all worked for him!
In My Opinion, HE BAT will be like president Bihari with better policies and efficient budgets. He may not be jumping around like President Obasanjo but will sure harness opportunities and excel in governance.

Ojuntana:
The govt will not channel any 4trn into power. If money is the only problem our power faces, it would have been solved by now. Highest you take loans.

If it is possible to create money there won't be need in the first place to get loans, especially the type Nigeria get that has led her to debt trap. It is a fact that if power generation is boosted inflation will drop and in boosting power generation, the government needs money. Getting loans while the country is busy subsidizing is unimaginable.
We need a leader that is committed to this course!

nesphil:
GEJ actually saved those funds but it was the then opposition Governors (including the likes of Fashola and others in the APC) that took the FG to court and won the case since the constitution didn't support saving of Excess Crude Funds (The constitution position on the excess crude fund is that the fund should be shared). The former Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonji Iweala have spoken about this several times, how she pleaded with the then Governors that funds in the Excess Crude Account should be saved for rainy days, but out of greed those Governors whom almost all of them are now in APC disagreed. So get your facts right before you start misleading the public.

Excess crude is as a result of bad national budget planning. If the president has proper advice on the Outlook of they year that is being planned, there won't be need for excess crude account.
Informed price for crude all through the year and daily production output are key ingredients for a potent national Budget. My opinion is to grow the reserve with money in excess crude account.
The country's export is around $40b and as such the reserve should be 6x the export in a country according to the thumb rule in economics. The reserve for the Nigeria,s government should be $240b. We shouldn't be talking about excess crude account, we should be growing our reserve from $39.5b steadily.

Ojuntana:
I don't necessarily agree with your theory on Tinubu. He's smart no doubt but we seem to underestimate the impact his poor health will have

I believe 2 things will work for HE Tinubu against you opinion on his health. His ability to pick the best brains into his cabinet and his wealth of experience in revenue expansion and long term policy formulation!
I have learnt in business that people are the drivers of business success. If a government will succeed it will have a very good cabinet. This really worked for president Obasanjo. He brought the best people, so far in governance, to his cabinet.
Ideas like BRT that is now the single sector that contributes the highest revenue to the Lagos State economy, Eko Atlantic City that houses the biggest USA embassy in the world, effective taxation of income in a state,s economy and clear blueprint on transportation system in a state economy as a robust source of revenue generation to the state government are some of the bright ideas we need HE BAT to recreate with this opportunity at the presidency. A man like him can harness more opportunities when he gets to Aso Rock to the surprise of so many people eg increase pension collection to all states of the federation, rejig the maritime industry to harness it's potential, efficiently tax the large income in the Nigeria,s economy to widen the revenue collection, plan an effective national transportation system and commence the implementation, increase power generation, assist completion of Alhaji Dangote,s Refinery, removal of subsidy and reduction in the cost of governance to allow more money in the hands of government to implement strategic project and reduce toxic borrowings, develop productive manpower through dedicated attention to Education at all levels etc.
Leading at the Presidential level is more of getting annual budgets right (planning revenue and expenses properly), tracking budget through Federal Executive Council meetings and formulating impactful policies.
I believe HE BAT will Excel. President Bihari knows his routine very well but his administration is marred by bad policies and improper budget planning.

richiemcgold:
only if we can fix power supply problems, more than 50% of Nigeria's problem will be solved, including this diesel wahAla.

In my location here, we currently buy diesel at 1,050 naira. How do you expect business to thrive under such condition? This energy problem is making Nigeria too hard for everybody, including the rich folks. Power supply should be the main focus of the next president. Anybody that has no realistic plan to fix power should not be allowed to near aso rock at all.

I'll keep saying it, 24 hrs power supply will solve more than 50% of this country's problems. And that's apart from increasing productivity and reducing all these excessive demands for gas, petrol and diesel.

To butress your salient point, the government need to remove subsidy and channel over N4t used for subsidizing petrol to increasing power generation and supply. After doing this the government should just sit back and watch inflation reduce drastically to single digit.
To crown it all, if the government can support Alhaji Dangote in raising funds to complete his Refinery and Petrochemical company, the there will be unprecedented reduction in the stress on Naira that it will become so strong and inturn further reduce the inflation figure to single digit below 5%.
Only a visionary leader and a critical thinker can look this direction.
God bless Nigeria!

My badh!
I only know 25 out of 36!!
Rap attack forever!!!

Why is the government acting like a shallow minded crop of people. How can you say you will not remove N4t subsidy because of the inflationary shock it will cause when the government cannot reduce inflation by providing key drivers of economy like regular power and good transportation system.
Imagine Alhaji Dangote spending N189b on providing power all through 2021 for his cement production plant. If the government can deploy N4t to regular power supply, that N189b will be reduce to about N30b/annum thereby reducing the inflationary effect of using diesel to power the production plant i.e there won't be need for diesel to power production plant by Dangote cement plant.
We really need critical thinkers as leaders and not stark without proven reasoning capability. If the country continues to subsidize with N4t year on year and as a result shrink the revenue to GDP ratio and I turn continue to borrow like destitutes among nations of the world with dangerous interest rates which inventually will lead to insolvency and continuous devaluing of the currency as a result of the need to import 'supposedly' important petrol that we cannot refine here in Nigeria, the inflation as a result will be more than what the shallow thinking leaders are afraid of.
If the European countries are adopting subsidy it will be a temporary measure to give relief to their citizens and definitely not to the detriment of their economy. According to the thumb rule in economics, the country,s reserve should be six times the export of the country. Nigeria's export is about $40b which means the reserve should be $240b. It is disheartening that over the years our leaders cannot grow the reserve above $40b but subsidize petrol with over N4t.
The issue of subsidy is a misappropriation in an economy that is not fully developed like Nigeria,s. Growing subsidy should be used to stimulate the economy to provide key economic drivers like power, education and good transportation system. The hardship as a result of removal of subsidy cannot be as the hardship of devaluing currency, low government revenue and debt trap. The government should do more to increase revenue base looking at the maritime sector, entertainment sector, optimizing pension contribution in all states of the country, and increasing taxes on the large income in the economy.
The government needs to urgently achieve local sustenance in petrol production thereby relieving the Niara so much stress. Subsidy is not a lifelong affair (since 1990). It has not reduced any hardship. It's time to remove it!
God bless Nigeria!

https://www.channelstv.com/2022/06/21/why-nigeria-has-not-removed-fuel-subsidy-buhari/

BAT will be disqualified because he said he will not step down for a concensus candidate except if he is the concensus candidate.
That statement is a big anti-party statement, knowing that the party reigns supreme above all members.
Others that agreed to step down are not political babies now.
The man is OLD, how could he have taken such stand and decision against the party?! He will definitely be disqualified.
Even if the Constitution of the party states that all candidates should agree on a concensus, you cannot disagree against the party,s move. That's the reason for the withdrawal form they signed in the nomination and declaration of interest form they bought.

God bless Nigeria!

hisexcellency34:
Can Tinubu defeat Atiku in a presidential election?

The answer is NO!

BAT has a problem of chosing a vice. He can not propagate a Muslim Muslim ticket neither can the North vote a Christian vice.
It looks to me as though BAT wants to cause crisis in APC (crisis PMB is trying to avoid).

PYO can come up with a strong Muslim vice or GEJ can come up with a strong Muslim vice both in APC and get the votes of the North, but not BAT, as it stands.

Also saying PDP wasted 16 successive years in government is not only a selfish statement but also a statement that will fail if subjected to facts on ground. As such I don't think the statement is necessary. It is an old statement that has been rendered invalid after 7 years. Only a rookie talks like this, as it stands. Imagine the waste APC has done with subsidizing petrol with N4t PA just because the party doesn't want to lose elections. PDP subsidized petrol with N100b at N89/ltr with the aim of completely removing subsidy.
HOW ON EARTH N4t!!

It will shock PDP that APC will win the elections with GEJ against PDP while PDP is busy demarketing GEJ.

A GEJ & SAL (Sen Ahmed Lawan) will deliver 2023 presidency to APC against AAA (Alhaji Abubakar Atiku) but not BAT!

God bless Nigeria!

This country will truly change the day we differentiate between winning elections and good governance. Winning elections is one thing while good governance is everything.

PO is about good governance. Since we believe he cannot win the elections, fingers +d. Only if the electorate can rally PO regardless of the party and get him to office in 2023 can the country find his new dawn.

Bottom line is, the country will get what it deserves!!

God bless Nigeria!

Tareq1105:
PDP would not agree with you that APC is a Party of inexperienced politicians.

That's because the party is confused and it's the same with APC.
Governance has become a game of winning election but not a business of economic development and social well-being.

Enough of the two parties!

Wait and see what APC will demonstrate in their primaries. The party too will break after the primaries, that's the reason they are using all their energy now to preach unity after primaries.

If APC has experienced politician they should be focused on good governance as a way of selling the party and not scamper to get a candidate that will win election when the opposition is not in power!!

What have they all done in the party as the ruling parting?! That's the reason the task is so daunting now.

PDP has cracked, am waiting for APC too.

It's unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation. The country will continue to suffer if we still believe only APC or PDP can win elections because of structure. The country is getting what it deserves because we have not done anything to deserve otherwise.

In 2015 the country made a statement, though a bad one, with the protest vote against Dr Jonathan,s government and what we got in return is this hardship for seven years and counting. The parameters then and now is enough prove for any sane human being (inflation 6%, interest rate 8%, Exchange rate N180/$, petrol N89/ltr, debt stock N18t, unemployment rate 13%, Per capital $3,000). Compare them with what we have now! The voters made a step but the country got hardship in return.

What structure has Gen. Buhari got than the coalition of hungry northern youths and political jobbers in South West who lead the innocent south Western voters to vote blindly not considering the competence of the candidate. As if the south western voters we under spell, they still allowed themselves to be mislead again by these jobbers to return an incompetent government. This is an attestation to the fact that the elites don't vote in the country. The bottom line is, the country will get what it deserves.

Only if the voters in the country can make another step by voting PO regardless of the political party (another protest vote) can the country get a return of economic prosperity, national wealth, competitive economy and ultimately, better life.
To me PO remains the man that understands the problem of this country and has the idea of how to fix it. He is a proven wealth creator, a politician with exposure and he is equipped with mordern techniques of governance, exactly what the country needs.

I wonder what PDP is up to with the crop of politicians left to them. Best among the pack, now that PO has left, is Sen Saraki and Alhaji Atiku. These are political journey men and jobbers that are not pragmatic that will still do the will of the cabal and "draw like okro soup in governance". PDP has lost its Lifeline.
PDP has not learnt anything from the 2015 election loss, if they have they will not afford to lose someone like PO, at this time, who came to their party from APGA. If they can afford to shrink now that APC is getting filled with politicians from other parties in the country then I wonder how one of them can boast of 11m votes anymore. Almost 5m votes from the 11m votes came from PO in the last election (south east). Their loss is imminent as there is no spark anymore in that party.

APC is a party of inexperienced, old fashioned politician that finds it difficult to come up with a candidate that can win election but rather wait for PDP to select a candidate before they will match the opposition.

It is time for the voters in the country to send these two parties to Extinction and breed a new and mordern political movement in Nigeria for the progress of the country.

God bless Nigeria!

CSTRR:
Let any politician talk about population growth control and some people will start telling you nonsense like "the north will not vote for him".

That's because they are the reason for the low productivity in the country.

oooabbeyooo:
The Ideal population density is between 50-150 people/sqkm but Nigeria maintains 218 people/sqkm (42nd in the world) meaning from this parameter, the population is not productive. This is evident in the population in the North without tangible GDP.

smeag0l:
This GDP stat means nothing. The important statistics is per capita income. They're reporting GDP increase but have they reported population increase? Have they reported the ratio of the GDP to the population to know if we actually made progress? Our government keep deceiving Nigerians.

The leaders are backwards and are not governing with modern day techniques. Advanced countries are controlling population so that the growth in their GDP translates to higher PER CAPITAL INCOME.

For an economy to thrive the GDP growth must be greater than the population growth. The government will say the population growth is 2.5% which is lower than 3% GDP but the PCI is $2,220 (136th in the world) behind South Africa and Lybia.

The Ideal population density is between 50-150 people/sqkm but Nigeria maintains 218 people/sqkm (42nd in the world) meaning from this parameter, the population is not productive. This is evident in the population in the North without tangible GDP.

I hope they manage to conduct census so that we can know the actual population of the country as against the estimate of 216m population.

sonnie10:
Of course oil price is higher now

Very informed and intelligent conclusion.

Oil still accounts for more than 80% of the country,s earnings. Since January oil has been selling for more than $79/barrel, now it's $110/barrel. This growth could have been more if the oil production output were to be 1.8m b/day as projected in the budget. At the moment the country is doing 1.4m b/day, losing 400k to theft daily.

This growth will be all year long as the Outlook of the year,s oil market is bright. The country might do a GDP growth of 6.5% throughout 2022.

What baffles me is that the country has no savings from this growth because the country is busy deducting subsidy from the revenue that the country will deduct N4t by the end of 2022 and service debt with whatever is left of the revenue. Another mystery is that the growth in the GDP does not translate to revenue because the cost of producing oil is too high in the country ($75/barrel).

Bottom line is, the growth is not the making of the present administration instead they are responsible for low growth rate as the country could have done more growth if there is no oil theft in the Niger/Delta region.

With what God has endowed us with (oil, minerals, Atlantic ocean, land for agriculture & human resources) we should have one of the best GDP growth in the world(double digits).

God bless Nigeria!

Mr Peter Obi speaking as an opposition is equipped with facts and statistics. It is clear that he is a critical thinkers and as such can tackle the problems of the country. I have so much respect for this man because of his exposure and analysis. He can simply import solutions to the problems in this country. As he has rightly said, he is a proven wealth creator to have left N75bn naira in the coffers of Anambra with a good debt profile. I guess that is what the president is trying to do by maintaining $40bn in foreign reserve and plunging the country into perpetual indebtedness.(N50t)

To me Mr Peter Obi is well exposed than Prof Osinbajo and will make a better President.

Imagine largest economy in Africa generating 4GWatts while second and third largest are doing 50GWatts and 56GWatts respectively. Nigeria busy spending toxic debts building rail line with obscure significance. *SMH*

This requires a leader with critical thinking and all the data available over the subject matter. We cannot compare Nigeria's economy (oil & gas, mining, agriculture, taxes) to South Africa's (mining & taxes) and conclude that Nigeria needs to expand tax net to increase revenue as South Africa is doing but the ratio of earnings to revenue can be compared for both countries to show the health of the economy.
More data over this subject matter are Nigeria is an oil producing country with more than 80% of its receipt (earnings) from sales of oil. It is also a fact that the cost of producing oil in Nigeria is very expensive ($75/barrel) which is responsible for the low revenue from earnings in the country. Saudi Arabia was able to maintain $25/barrel as cost of producing oil by running their oil drilling industry locally. If the country had been selling oil produced at $75/barrel since 2015 at $30/barrel, then there can't be any revenue from the earnings from oil. It is also a fact that the country earns above N12t from sales of oil annually and lately has a revenue of N2.5t from this earnings (18% earnings to revenue ratio) almost the same revenue from non-oil and sector. At the moment, the price of oil is $103-$110/barrel and at this rate the country can make significant revenue from sales of oil because the price is $35 higher than the cost of producing oil. Also, the oil production output of the country is another issue as the country is producing 1.4m barrels/day as against the possible peak of 2.2m b/d and projected 1.8m b/d as allocated by OPEC and in the 2022 budget. This shortfall in oil production output will reduce the earnings of the country and I turn reduce the revenue from oil sales.
Going with these facts yet, a critical thinking leader will find a way to reduce the cost of producing oil in the country thereby increasing the revenue from oil. If the leader of the country, as a wealth creator, can implement a transformation in the oil production sector that can reduce the cost of oil production to $40/barrel, then the country can make N6t from a sales of N12t per annum. (50% earnings to revenue ratio)
Going further than the conclusion above, the economic parameters of the country are very poor (interest rate pegged at 11% should be higher and the country is losing money, inflation rate at 16.48% and exchange rate pegged at N480/$ officially should be higher and it is putting pressure on Naira). Since the bulk of the debt is domestic, it is important that the leader focuses on how to entrench good policies (not pegging interest rate at 11% because the country is losing money) and reduce key economic parameters like interest rates (increase money supply), inflation rate (increase production) exchange rate (allow rates to be market determined and not pegged & encourage local production of petrol as a move to reduce pressure on Naira).
In the same vein, the leader should ultimately:
*Cut cost of governance to increase capital availability to government
*Remove wasteful spendings and replace with life improving welfare package (remove subsidy N4t per annum and replace with N50,000 minimum wage)
*Reduce borrowings.
If these steps are taken, the earnings to revenue ratio of the country will increase drastically from 9% and debt servicing to revenue ratio will reduce drastically from 86%.
Taking steps as increasing the tax net with poor economic parameters as it is at the moment will only deepen hardship and increase the misery index of the country.
We need strategic thinkers as leaders that thinks outside the box!!