Gboyega Akinsanmi
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo at the weekend disclosed that the federal government earned $94 billion between December 2015 and December 2017, which he claimed, had helped the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari execute some strategic infrastructure projects.
Contrarily, the vice president disclosed that the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan earned a whopping sum of $383 billion between 2010 and 2014, noting that there was nothing to show for the huge revenue.
He reeled the figures in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande on Friday, noting that only a long period of honest and truthful leadership committed to the welfare of Nigerians could guarantee a prosperous future for the country
From 2015 to 2017, Osinbajo explained that the federal government “earned just $94billion, yet we started the Lagos-Kano railway. We are now passed Ibadan. We completed the Abuja light rail which they started and could not complete.
“It was when we came in work progressed on Lagos-Ibadan expressway. In every state, we are doing a major road. Why? It is because the President does not allow anyone to steal the money. If you have small money, you can do a lot if you are not stealing it; that is what we have shown; that with small money if you are not stealing it, you can do a lot.”
On the bane of Nigeria’s development, Osinbajo noted that the reason nothing works in our country “is that of theft of public funds. The federal government “earned $383billion between 2010 and 2014. That is the highest any government in the history of the country has earned in four years.
“But there is nothing to show for it. Where are the roads? Where is the railways? This money was just wasted or stolen. That was what happened,” he said.
Osinbajo compared the APC government with the then PDP government, claiming that after four years of earning the highest amount, you could not point to anything that the PDP government did.
The vice president said, “Mambilla Hydro project started 40 years ago and nobody touched it. Nothing was done about Aladja-Warri rail line, Lagos-Kano rail line and Port Harcourt- Maiduguri line.”
Osinbajo equally canvassed that only a long period of honest and truthful leadership committed to the welfare of Nigerians would guarantee a prosperous future for the country given the challenges that had hindered Nigeria’s development across different sectors over the years.
He said, “I want to emphasize that the reason why we believe that a second term is important, is because it is necessary for our country to have a long period of honest and truthful leadership. The problem of our country has never been ideas or projects. It is honest leadership that has always been the problem.”
He said Nigeria’s projected population growth, the attitude of past leaders, amongst other factors, has made it necessary for only persons with proven integrity be voted into elective positions in all future elections.
“By 2050, Nigeria will be the third most populous nation of the world, third after China and India. If our leaders steal money the way they have been stealing money over the past years, millions of Nigerians will be dying all over the place because then the population will be more than what we have today.
“So, it is important for Nigeria to have a period of honest leadership, that is why we are determined to tell the Nigerian people everywhere we go that the next elections are about the future of our country. Our country must have an honest, righteous leadership, a man who will not allow the money to be stolen.”
He commended the leadership of the emirate, noting that it was his type of leadership that “is required, not just educated, but forthright and committed to doing the things that are right for the people.”
He emphasised the need for the electorates “to vote APC in the general elections. It is the party for all Nigerians and one that will take Nigeria to the next level.
“Our brothers in the other party were saying that APC is not a party for everybody, but we are all seeing today that they are wrong because we are seeing that the APC is a party for all Nigerians; it is a party for Christians and Muslims, and President Buhari is a president for all.
“Those who were saying that the APC is only for Muslims are wrong because you can see that it is a party for all, I am not only a Christian but a pastor. I have worked very well and I am very happy with Buhari because he is a just, trustworthy person, honest and straightforward.
“Also, you can see that our SGF, Boss Mustapha is also a Christian and so also is the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, when he was with us, was a Christian and he is from this region. So, APC is for Gombe and Gombe is for APC.”
One of the high points of the rally was the presentation of the party’s flag to the governorship candidate, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya amidst cheers from the crowd.
