2023: Arewa Alliance Secures N’East Endorsement for Emefiele
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Arewa Alliance for the Presidency of Godwin Emefiele (AAPGE) which is a composition of patriotic northern leaders and politicians has initiated regional engagements with stakeholders in the north-east towards creating a pathway that would lead to the emergence of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor as the President in 2023.
In a statement signed yesterday by the AAPGE National Convener, Dauda Kushu, Emefiele was endorsed at a zonal session in Yola, Adamawa State, by stakeholders across many walks of life including businessmen, agribusiness operators, politicians, civil servants, religious leaders, traditional leaders, women and youths.
Kushu also listed those at the event to include several north-east groups, the north-east business community, north-east APC youth leaders and north-east APC women leaders.
He said AAPGE was warmly received when it met with all APC party chairmen and other party executives in the 21 local government areas in Adamawa State on the Emefiele project.
He stated that AAPGE was supporting Emefiele because of the confidence they have in him and his acceptability among all Nigerians brought about by his unbiased, people-focused interventions at the CBN.
The group noted that the appointment of Emefiele as CBN Governor also afforded many less-privileged Nigerians the opportunity to feel the impact of the government through his interventionist policies geared towards poverty alleviation.
With reference to the agric sector, AAPGE noted that the CBN Governor has abolished Nigeria’s status as a food-dependent nation and turned it into a food self-sufficient nation, adding that if Emefiele is given the opportunity to continue as President from where he left off as CBN Governor, the country will definitely be the better for it.
The group quoted official data which show that the CBN has disbursed over N927 billion in less than seven years to over 4.5 million smallholder farmers cultivating 21 commodities across the country under the Emefiele-led ABP.
Additionally, before 2015, Nigeria’s local rice production was 1.5 metric tonnes/hectare. Courtesy of the ABP, local rice production has soared to 5 metric tonnes/hectare. This increase in rice production has resulted in an increase in the number of large-scale integrated rice mills available in the country, from less than 10 in 2015 to nearly 100,400 medium-sized mills and over 200,000 small scale mills across the country today, providing millions of direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians.
In terms of his performance in managing Nigeria’s economy, AAPGE lauded Emefiele’s immense contribution in pulling Nigeria out of recession despite global economic challenges brought about by COVID-19 and oil price shocks.
Kushu also stressed that Nigeria’s GDP was on the rise following its 3.4 per cent growth in 2021, the fastest growth rate in seven years.
He added that in continuation of its regional engagements, AAPGE will conduct campaigns across the 19 northern states of the country in addition to northern communities in the south, including those in the Diaspora.
