Nigeria Suffered Infrastructural Deficits In 16 Years PDP Rule, Osinbajo says

By Biola Adebayo

The Vice President, Prof.  Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria suffered major infrastructural deficits in the 16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) rule.

Prof. Osinbajo said this on Friday in Abuja at the 2019 Vice Presidential Debate organized by the Nigeria Election Debate Group in collaboration with the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) and Civil Society Organisations.

The debate featured Ganiyu Galadima of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN); Khadija Abdullahi-Iya of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), and incumbent Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The other two were Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Umma Getso of the Young Progressives Party (YPP).

Vice President Osinbajo noted that corruption was the major cause of the country`s current challenges and must be tackled head-on.

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He said the country`s Gross Domestic Product had consistently gone up under the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration which he added was building the country`s infrastructure, especially the road and rail sector.

While acknowledging issues of poverty in the county, Osinbajo said the administration’s social investment programmes were put in place to address poverty in the country.

He said the administration was investing heavily in power distribution to address the problem of electricity supply in the country

Dr Peter Obi, PDP Vice Presidential Candidate, however, said that job creation remained the key to address insecurity and other anti-social vices in the country.

He decried inequality, poverty and a high crime rate in the country which he said was caused by unemployment.

Obi stressed that the country`s main problem remained its economy which he said was under the purview of the Vice President.

According to him, if his party is voted into office in 2019, he will do all it takes to set the country’s economy on the right footing.

“The vice president has a role to build the economy and make the country work, fighting corruption is not a policy,” he said.

Obi gave assurance that he would remain loyal to the President and Nigerians, adding that he had never had issues working with people.

Also speaking at the debate,  Umma Getso, Young Progressives Party Vice Presidential Candidate said girl-child education and women empowerment was her priority.

According to Getso, subsidy in petroleum products was a scam and should be removed completely.

She emphasized the need to rebuild the country`s economy which she said is all-encompassing, adding that her party would ensure constitutional restructuring and electricity redistribution.

Alliance for New Nigeria Vice Presidential Candidate, Khadijah Abudullahi-Iya said her party, if voted into office, would ensure transparency in government`s institutions, diversification of the economy and address issues surrounding petroleum subsidy.

She also said that her party had in place policies that would address unemployment, and encourage free trade to grow the economy.

Alhaji Ganiyu Galadima, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria Vice Presidential Candidate said his party would work with technocrats to develop the country`s economy and make her the envy of other nations.

He said his party would privatize all government businesses to make them more productive.

NAN