By Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Editor and Jide Orintunsin, Abuja
After months of speculations and consultations, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday formally declared to join the league of presidential aspirants for the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election.
The chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said if elected as the president, his administration would entrench good governance and ensure youth empowerment and national unity.
He spoke at the Transcrop Hilton Hotel, Abuja while unveiling his “New Nigeria Agenda” in company with his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and other eminent Nigerians.
Dr. Fayemi said his abiding faith in one Nigeria reinforced his decision to offer himself to serve in the highest office of the land, adding that having been an active participant at various cadre of governance prepared him for the task ahead.
He said: “I have been privileged to witness first-hand, the underlying commitment and sense of solidarity which Nigerians from all parts of the country share about the promise of the fatherland. And it has been my singular honour to have been an active part at various times of different detachments of the committed army of compatriots from various walks of life labouring with determination for our national progress to be both sustained and advanced.
“It is in the spirit of this abiding faith in our country and the promise of its unfinished greatness that I stand before you today, in total humility and with all sense of responsibility, to solemnly declare to all our party cadres and Nigerians at large, my decision to accept for my name to be put forward for consideration by the APC leadership and membership as the party’s standard-bearer in the upcoming contest for a successor to His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari.
“This is not a decision which I have taken lightly. Indeed, to arrive at this point, I carried out a long and deep self-introspection with the help of close family, friends and colleagues, including my wife and devoted partner, Erelu Bisi Fayemi. I have also traversed the length and breadth of our country to consult and explore with our esteemed elder statesmen and women, traditional rulers, a cross-section of party leaders and rank and file members, and various non-partisan leaders of thought and opinion.”
When asked about his preferred mode of primary on May 30 at the presidential primary convention, Fayemi admitted that the party’s constitution permitted three modes of direct, indirect and consensus, but to carry all party faithful along, he called for the use of direct primary at the convention.
The declaration was attended by former Senate President Ahmed Ebute, Senator Lawan Shuaibu, former governor of Ogun State and presidential aspirant, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, former Majority Whip of House of Representatives, Abu Bawa Bwari, APC governorship standard- bearer at next month’s governorship election, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, members of the state House of Assembly and members of the state traditional rulers.
Unveiling his agenda to transform the country, the presidential hopeful said: “As the standard-bearer of the APC, I will be leading the implementation of a holistic and integrated response to the multifaceted security crises confronting us.
“To this end, the retooling of our armed forces, intelligence agencies and border guards will be pursued in tandem with an overhaul of our policing system and the phasing in of bold universal social policies that will enable us decisively to tackle poverty and upgrade human capital and security.
“In this perspective, the deliberate expansion of employment opportunities, youth entrepreneurship, skills development, and innovation, support to the weak and vulnerable such as we have done in Ekiti State for the elderly, and women’s socio-economic empowerment will be treated as just one dimension of our comprehensive response to the costly security crises that have destabilised us, as will the pursuit of broad welfare policies that are embedded into a new state-society bargain and the empowerment of citizens.”
On the economy, Fayemi planned to adopt broad socio-economic measures that would enhance the cap hit of the country to fight insecurity.
He said: “For the economy to serve broader social and political purposes that enhance human and state security, stem poverty and promote national prosperity, my agenda for Nigeria encompasses attention to questions of productivity, diversification, domestic value addition, investments in and incentives for research, development, and innovation, and the expansion of domestic revenue mobilisation, among others.”
He further said: “By the same token, a major rescue and investment programme for the educational sector, the health system, the civil service, and the local government system will be launched to re-orient each of them for the task of overall national development, progress and prosperity.
On agriculture, the NGF boss said: “I fully understand that we cannot secure our prosperity without ensuring that our agricultural sector can deliver self-sufficiency in critical food markets, absorb an important swathe of the unemployed into gainful employment, feed our efforts at agro-allied industrialisation, reinvigorate the rural areas, foster the coordinated expansion of commodity exchanges, and boost the flow of foreign exchange into the economy.
“We will prioritise the sector for the multiple benefits it can bring to the agenda of national prosperity and transformation that we will be pursuing with unrelenting vigour. As part of this commitment, issues of streamlined and transparent access to agricultural finance, and the expanded adoption of agricultural technology by farming populations will rank high in the priority areas for focus.”
To actualise all the laudable agenda, the presidential hopeful pledged his commitment to a holistic approach to decentralisation of the system.
According to him, “a holistic approach to decentralisation will be embraced and institutionalised so that government and its services are brought closer to the people. Our programme of decentralisation will also feed into the goals of a stronger, more united and stable Nigeria. These are outcomes which are not only good for our domestic prospects but which will also benefit West Africa, the rest of the African continent, and a troubled international multilateral system.”