The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Prof. Yemi Osinbajo

  • Osinbajo: APC govt will reduce duty on imported vehicles

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has promised to cut tariff and duty on imported vehicles, if it wins the March 28 presidential election.

    Its vice-presidential candidate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, at a town hall meeting with political stakeholders in Ondo, Ondo State, said: “We do not agree that there should be high tariff on imported cars whether new or old because Nigeria is not producing cars for now.

    “What we will do first is to fix power and encourage local production of cars. But before then, we will reduce the high tariff that Nigerians are paying to import vehicles into the country.”

    Osinbajo said Nigerians should not find it difficult to buy cars, promising that the APC government would ensure that tariff were reduced to make cars affordable.

    The Goodluck Jonathan administration  began implementation of the new tariff on imported vehicles last year.

    The policy pegs the age limit for private vehicles at 10 years and commercial, 15.

    Under the new regime, importers, who hitherto paid 20 per cent duty on used vehicles, now pay 35 per cent duty and additional 35 per cent levy on new vehicles. The tariff is an offshoot of the automotive policy.

    Under the policy, Customs will collect additional 35 per cent levy, totalling 70 per cent tariff from April.

    Vehicle dealers and importers in Lagos are lamenting that the policy is hurting their businesses and have hiked prices by about 300 per cent.

    The policy, they argued, could propel jobs’ cut. Chief Osita Chukwu, National Coordinator of Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNIFFIEC), said the policy is anti-masses and should be resisted.

    “We cannot accept the 70 per cent tariff hike. It’s going to kill the masses. How many people will be able to buy used vehicles? How many people can afford new ones as well? We reject this. We are going to shut the ports if the government doesn’t rescind its decision on this matter. By the time over three million importers, exporters and other stakeholders withdraw their services from the ports, you can imagine the implication.”

    Osinbajo fingered lack of gas supply for the power problem.

    He promised that plants would be sited in neighbourhoods where power is needed and gas supplied to them using trucks and related means besides pipelines.

    According to him, the model is in use in Lagos State where such plants supply power to designated neighborhoods.

  • Osinbajo’s innovative 2015 campaigns

    Osinbajo’s innovative 2015 campaigns

    SINCE he emerged the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s opponents and admirers alike have taken special interest in his personality and approach to electoral campaigns.

    Their observations so far are quite instructive. Ripples learnt for example that his first steps are subjects of concern to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency, which, at his emergence had dismissed him as a candidate that lacked political experience.

    One of the sources, a media expert close to the PDP leadership in Abuja, said PDP and the Presidency had concluded that “Osinbajo had little or no experience of electoral campaigns and so will bring little or nothing to the APC campaign strategy. But the way he has carried on since his emergence seems to have made a lie of such calculation.”

    Osibanjo, for example, made a unique impression when he commenced his one-on-one campaign by entering Lagos (BRT) commercial buses where, as a passenger, he interacted with commoners freely.

    Although his critics alleged that it was an arranged outing, no one can deny its freshness, an indication that Osinbajo is poised to bring something new to Nigerian politics.

    Another fresh addition the former Attorney-General of Lagos State, Professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria has brought to bear within the few weeks of his emergence is the use of online communication facilities to reach out to Nigerians.

    Some of his followers on the social media, responding to his online discussions, particularly his comments at the weekend, where he said the Presidential candidate of APC, Gen. Muhammed Buhari, will wipe out Boko Haram insurgents as he did Maitatsine, another Islamic insurgency before, concluded that Osinbajo as a vice presidency will not only be fresh but he would be an active participant.

  • APC’s game plan, by Osinbajo

    APC’s game plan, by Osinbajo

    JOBS and security. These are the two pillars on which the All Progressives Congress (APC) will build its campaign, according to Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate.

    According to him, 80 per cent of youths have no jobs. Besides, Nigeria is fighting an insurgency that has taken thousands of lives.

    Osinbajo, who is the head Pastor, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Olive Tree Parish, Banana Island, Lagos, spoke to our correspondent on Sunday night after the church’s carol service.

    He said: “We will focus on job creation and security. The most important thing today is how to create employment for the vast majority of people who do not have employment opportunities. Apart from that, security; but creating jobs is primary for me.

    “About 80 per cent of graduates that come out of school today do not have work. None graduates are even worse off. As far as I am concerned, the most important challenge any government has today is to ensure there are enough jobs for those who do not have work to do.

    “There is no question about my party winning next year’s election. Definitely, we will beat the ruling PDP. I think the people of Nigeria have come to a point where they realise that after 15 years of the PDP, things have got much worse than in 1999.

    “Except the people just love suffering for the sake of suffering, there is nowhere else in the world where the PDP will be allowed to stay for one more day. I trust that most Nigerians will vote out this PDP government come February 2015 – by the grace of God. The hope is for change and that is the APC.”

    Reflecting on why he opted for politics, Osinbajo, a former university teacher and foremost lawyer, said it was because of his desire to effect positive change in the lives of the people.

    He said policies that will affect the lives of the people can only be implemented if people with integrity occupy top positions in government.

    On the disposition of the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, to his foray into politics, the senior advocate of Nigeria and one-time Attorney General and Commisioner for Justice in Lagos State, said:

    “Pastor Adeboye is in support of the legitimate and good aspirations of all his children. I am one of his children, and so, clearly, he is in support. So long as you are not doing something illegal. Once you are doing something that is legal and legitimate, he is fully in support

    “Just as he supports my activities as a lawyer, he supports my activities as a politician. So long as what one is doing is not wrong, he actively supports it.”

    In Osinbajo’s view, every cleric should be an active member of a political party because that is the only way he or she can effect changes in policies that will better the lot of the over 110 million poor Nigerians.

    Said he: “Every pastor ought to be a card-carrying member of a political party. You must take a position because it is important in our society. Jesus Christ came purposely to address the concerns of the poor. Jesus, according to the scriptures, says, ‘I have been anointed to preach the good news to the poor and heal the broken hearted.’

    “You cannot be in the Third World today, in a country like Nigeria where 110 million people are poor and you are a Christian, a purveyor of the gospel of Jesus Christ and you are not in a position to influence the most effective way of eradicating poverty, which is governance.

    “How can I say I am a Christian, a pastor and leader in the Christian faith and I am not interested in the process by which the poor can be empowered?

    Osinbajo debunked insinuations that Gen. Buhari is a religious extremist. He was optimistic that the Buhari/Osinbajo presidency will emplace religious harmony, integrity in public service, discipline as well as security of lives and property.

    “All that description of him as Islamist is poor propaganda. There is no question of it at all. I have had long conversations with him on so many issues, including this and I believe very strongly that he is a man who believes every man should practices his faith the way he wishes.

    “What is going on at the moment is disgraceful. It is not a matter of religion as being painted. The key issues today are of poverty and deprivation of the vast majority of Nigerians of means of livelihood. Government is responsible for providing for people, but they are not doing so.