‘My Pact With Nigeria’ – Peter Obi Releases 48-Page Manifesto Document

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has given a hint on what Nigerians should expect if they elect him as their president in 2023.

Naija News reports that Obi promised that his government will secure and unite Nigerians by managing the nation’s diversity to everyone’s advantage without anyone feeling marginalised.

The Campaign Director of the LP Presidential candidate, Doyin Okupe, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Okupe stated that the 48-page policy document titled “The Pact with Nigeria” which contains multi-sectoral policy options, will be released today, October 31, 2022.

He said the document chronicles the seven governance priorities of the Obi-Baba Ahmed administration, which he claimed would usher in a new Nigeria.

According to the document, Obi would move Nigeria from consumption to production, stressing that production would be centered on growth for food security and export.

He added that he would restructure the polity through effective legal and institutional reforms, to fight corruption and enthrone rule of law and all-inclusive and effective government.

Obi also promised to prioritize Human Capital Development through robust investments in STEM education, health, and infrastructural development, with emphasis on wealth creation, distribution, and sustainable development.

The LP chieftain listed the seven priorities as follows:

1. Securing Nigeria, ending banditry and insurgency; and uniting our dear nation, to manage our diversity such that no one is left behind.

2. Production-centred growth for food security and export -Moving Nigeria from consumption to production.

3. Restructuring the polity through effective legal and institutional reforms, to fight corruption and enthrone rule of law and all-inclusive and effective government.

4. Leapfrogging Nigeria from an oil-dependent economy to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with massive investment in new technologies.

5. Expanding physical infrastructure – with a focus on critical sectors like power, multi-modal transportation, gas pipeline, etc. – through efficient public-private partnership (PPP) reforms (unleashing growth-enabling entrepreneurship and market-creating innovations).

6. Youth engagement and human capital development that improves the quality of life of workers and families, and productivity-enhancing education that empowers labour competitiveness.

7. Robust foreign policy that restores Nigeria’s strategic relevance.

The statement by Okupe conveying Obi’s plan reads: “As your President, I Peter Gregory Onwubuasi Obi, my Vice President, Yusuf Datti Baba Ahmed, and our team pledge to secure and unite our dear nation, to manage our diversity such that no one is left behind in Nigeria.

“We will move Nigeria from consumption to production and embark on comprehensive legal and institutional reforms and practicable restructuring measures, to fight corruption, enthrone rule of law, and an all-inclusive and effective government.

“Our government will prioritize Human Capital Development through robust investments in STEM education, health, and infrastructural development, with emphasis on wealth creation, distribution, and sustainable development.

“We will also engineer the transition of Nigeria from fossil fuel dependency to climate and eco-friendly energy use and pursue holistic poverty eradication with emphasis on agricultural revolution through effective utilization of our vast arable lands, particularly in Northern Nigeria, and erase Nigeria’s categorization as the poverty capital of the world.

“Our government will improve access to finance, Particularly to MSMEs, youths, and women, to significantly reduce unemployment and insecurity and ensure that in policy and practice, governance will be made more inclusive, cost-effective, transformative, and less transactional.

“We will ensure that our diversity will be leveraged to give women and youths, the aged, and persons with disabilities, an unfettered voice in governance, and a renewed sense of patriotism and faith in Nigeria.

“Our government will also ensure that Nigeria is progressively better governed through legislative, executive, and judicial reforms so that the Constitutional separation of powers among the three arms of government is properly followed and the three tiers of government are allowed to function independently and jointly for a more inclusive and sustainable Nigeria.”