The All Progressives Congress, APC, and its flag bearer, Muhammadu Buhari, are now in charge of the federal government.
During the electioneering campaign, President Buhari; his vice president, Yemi Osinbajo; and his party made several promises to Nigerians.
They ran their election campaign based on the mantra of “change.” An online publication, TheCable, has compiled a list of Buhari’s and APC’s promises to Nigerians, drawn from APC manifesto, documents and promises made at campaign rallies.
Below are some of the promises compiled by the APC and Buhari, compiled by TheCable. They are in no particular order;
1. Public declaration of assets and liabilities
2. State and community policing
3. Ban on all government officials from seeking medical care abroad
4. Implementation of the National Gender Policy, including 35% of appointive positions for women
5. Revival of Ajaokuta steel company
6. Generation, transmission and distribution of at least 20,000 MW of electricity within four years and increasing to 50,000 MW with a view to achieving 24/7 uninterrupted power supply within 10 years.
7. Empowerment scheme to employ 740,000 graduates across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
8. Establishment of a free-tuition and scholarship scheme for pupils who have shown exceptional aptitude in science subjects at O/Levels to study ICT-related courses
9. 720,000 jobs by the 36 states in the federation per annum (20,000 per state)
10. Three million Jobs per year
11. [In another policy document by the APC] We will embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition schemes for graduates along with the creation of a Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to create at least 5 million new jobs by 2019.
12. Churches and Mosques would not pay taxes under national laws, but if they engage in businesses, the businesses would pay tax.
13. Provision of allowances to the discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for Twelve (12) months while in the skills and entrepreneurial development programme.
14. Making our economy one of the fastest-growing emerging economies in the world with a real GDP growth averaging 10% annually. [In another instance, the APC promised 10-12% annual GDP growth]
15. Creation of a Social Welfare Programme of at least Five Thousand Naira (N5000) that will cater for the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens upon the demonstration of children’s enrollment in school and evidence of immunisation to help promote family stability.
16. Recruitment and training of at least 100,000 officers into the Nigerian police force and establish a Federal anti-terrorism agency.
17. One free meal (to include fruits) daily, for public primary school pupils.
18. Building an airport in Ekiti state.
19. Eradication of state of origin, replacing that with state of residence to ensure Nigerians are Nigerians first, before anything else.
20. Establishment of Crime Squad to combat terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, militants, ethno-religious and communal clashes nationwide.
21. Working with the National Assembly towards the immediate enactment of a Whistle Blower Act
22. Economic stability for the ECOWAS nations and maintaining a strong, close and frank relationship with West Africa, South Africa, UK, USA, Canada, and other African countries.
23. Establishing a conflict resolution commission to help prevent, mitigate and resolve civil conflicts within the polity.
24. All political officer holders earn only the salaries and emoluments determined and approved by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission RMFAC.
25. Permanent peace in the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas such as Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Abia.
26. As against fears in some quarters, Buhari while speaking with catholic bishops in Abuja back in February, promised not to Islamise Nigeria.
27. Nationwide sanitation plans to keep Nigeria clean
28. Preserving the independence of the Central Bank
29. Simplifying immigration process to foster faster visa processing at points of entry.
30. Special incentives to facilitate the education of the girl child
31. Full implementation of the National Identification Scheme to generate the relevant data.
32. Making Information Technology, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Entertainment key drivers of our economy.
33. Balancing the economy across regions by the creation of 6 new Regional Economic Development Agencies (REDAs) to act as champions of sub-regional competitiveness.
34. Putting in place a N300bn regional growth fund (average of N50bn in each geo-political region) to be managed by the REDAs.
35. Amending the Constitution and the Land Use Act to create freehold/leasehold interests in land along with matching grants for states to create a nationwide electronic land title register on a state by state basis.
