By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has advised Nigerians to resist the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from returning to power in 2019 election, saying the motive behind the party’s desperation is to allegedly loot the nation.
Osinbajo said Nigeria’s economy would have collapsed long ago but for President Muhammadu Buhari’s honesty, reminding the people that only a honest and selfless leader can be trusted with the nation’s wealth.
In spite of the barrage of attacks by eminent Nigerians and opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) branding the Tradermoni policy as a ‘jamboree’, Osinbajo described the scheme as “one of the major policies of President Buhari’s government, because it was centred around the
youths and poor Nigerians”.
Osinbajo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) vice-presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential poll, spoke in Ado Ekiti Monday during a roundtable and mentorship programme on Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME) in Ekiti State capital.
The Tradermoni programme was done in Ado Ekiti metropolis, Ikere and Omuo Ekiti in Ekiti State.
He also visited Iworoko Ekiti, where a trailer rammed into a market and killed 15 persons a couple of weeks ago to commiserate with the indigenes of the town.
Osinbajo said Nigerians would be plunged into another round of embezzlement if the PDP succeeds in wresting power from the present
Buhari government, which he described as prudent in terms of financial management.
He said the government will establish special micro finance banks namely: People’s Money Bank and Entrepreneurial Bank to drive the
Tradermoni and Market Money policies, where beneficiaries will get between N100,000 and N500,000 to establish MSME to drive the economy.
“Many of our leaders are not responsible, so Nigeria needs a honest man to lead the people and President Buhari is doing just that. Don’t
allow anybody to deceive you. President Buhari is a honest man, our problem in this country is that many of our leaders are stealing our money, so you must disallow them from coming to power again,” he said.
He said Ekiti will benefit from Lagos-Kano railway line that is underway when completed, adding that this project was targeted at strengthening the economy of each of the benefiting states.
“Rather than stealing money, President Buhari is doing more to strengthen the youths through N-Power, Tradermoni, School Feeding Programme, Lagos-Kano rail line, Calabar-Asaba-Abuja Railway line, among others. All these are meant to benefit Nigerian masses.
“As we speak, 500,000 Nigerians are benefiting from N-Power, but we are not going to stop at that. Soon, the number will increase.
“The next level of our government is to give loans to women, youths and other sectors through the special banks that are underway to make lives easy for the masses,” he stated.
The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, urged Nigerians to vote for Buhari’s continuity if they want good value for their lives in terms of good governance and prudent management of the nation’s wealth.
Fayemi said the array of potentials and creativity of Ekiti have been showcased to the federal government, saying those with special skills shall continue to benefit patronage from government.
“If you want better values for your lives, if you need a government that will be compassionate and resourceful, then vote for
Buhari/Osinbajo in the next election.
“The good livelihood of Ekiti people is dear to Buhari’s government and with the APC in the saddle, Ekiti will continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy.
“In four months that we came into power, we have paid four salaries and pensions are paid regularly. So you have seen that we are different from the government of the past,” he said.
