Unlike Buhari, I Won’t Deny All My Campaign Promises – Ezekwesili

The 2019 presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has said if given the chance to govern, she won’t deny her campaign promises as allegedly seen with the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

Ezekwesili, a former Vice President of World Bank (Africa region), alleged that President Buhari is repeating the same mistakes of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan by not making meaningful contributions for freedom and peace across Africa.

She also described as resigning to low standards, if Nigerians should vote APC’s President Buhari or PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in 2019.

“Sometimes it is hard to believe Nigeria’s greatness in the midst of our daily struggles, and as we watch our country repeat the same mistakes over and over again. It is hard to remember the contributions our country has made for freedom and peace across the African continent,” the ACPN presidential candidate said on Monday, a day after flagging off her campaign.

“I cannot stand it when we choose to accept mediocrity or resign ourselves to lowly standards. Nigeria can do much better. I care about Nigeria and Nigerians enough to know that the back-to-back failed leadership has held us back for far too long, and if we do not take a stand and take our country back, they would still be here in years to come, holding back our children and their children. God forbid!

“The APC campaigned in 2015 on a manifesto that propagated the doctrine of restructuring. President Buhari went along with it every step of the way because it is all about getting into power for him. He won and then began to renege on his promises, including on restructuring. He suddenly remembered all the reasons why ‘structure is not the problem’ with Nigeria.

“I want to reignite belief in Nigeria’s greatness by leading a government that would make clear promises to citizens and deliver on them, not like the current leadership which spent its first year in office denying all the promises it made to get into that office,” she added.

She accused Buhari of placing a lesser value on the lives of Nigerians, warning that Nigerians needed to vote for a candidate who would take their well-being as a priority.

The former Vice-President of World Bank explained that Nigeria’s current federal structure was not working and recommended a review.

She said, “Entire communities and even local government areas in this country have been driven into hunger and poverty, as their sources of livelihoods are completely wiped out due to insecurity. The value of a Nigerian life has been devalued and cheapened.

“The structure of a federation is its skeleton. A functional structure gives shape, support, and aids the movement of the federation. No wonder Nigeria is handicapped under this dysfunctional structure.”

She added, “There was a time when the APC agreed on the need to restructure the federation and devolve more powers to the regions and states.”