The National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Engr. Yabagi Sani has made it clear that the political party is interested and ready to participate in the 2023 presidential election.
The Chairman made the disclosure during an exclusive interview with CEOAFRICA.
According to him, despite the fact that the dynamics of politics change in Nigeria, it is sure that the political party will get its ticket.
“The political dynamics of the country always dictate how politicians behave, especially if you are a politician that has a lot of responsibilities. By the way of your opposition, you will always have to weigh the dynamics and dictates of politics before you decide what to do. But as far as Action Democratic Party is concerned, definitely, we are going to be on the ticket in 2023, there is no doubt about that”
Sani explained that the ADP administration will affect the economy of the country positively by identifying and collaborating with experts in different fields; a unique manner different of other political parties.
“The difference in the approach by the ADP administration will be in the way and manner the economy is operating because everything in the country lies on how the economy of that country functions.
That is what dictates whether we have a peaceful country, progressive country, in terms of economy, that is in terms of the welfare of the people, whether you will have a secure country, in terms of security of lives and properties.”
Yabagi also identified corruption as a major factor obstructing the country from progressing, blaming it on the incompetence of the Nigerian leaders.
He said“And if you look at it, one thing that has been standing between us and great things in this country is corruption. Corruption thrives where the leadership is weak, and in Nigeria, our experience has been that all the leaders that we have had, especially since 1999 to date are corrupt.
Yes, some of them have the passion to give the country what it desires but they lack the skills and knowledge to be able to identify the experts that will assist them to achieve the greatness which this country is in promise of. The president is expected to identify experts, people that can deliver, people you can trust, people that have a passion. What we have discovered is that we are lacking in that area and that is why we are where we are today.
So, ADP will come up with a template that will afford anybody that can add value to what we are doing. First and foremost, merit will be given its due recognition. Yeah, it is a political environment and there are other things are important too but we have seen that this is the 21st century and that means we require somebody that has the knowledge of how to manage.”
Speaking on how the revenue of the country has been affected badly, Yabagi added that ADP political party will proffer solution to the problems, especially the mess caused by the leaders in the oil sector of the country.
“Look at the problem we are having in this country today. It is about revenue. Our source of revenue has been hijacked by very few Nigerians in collaboration with foreigners who are operating in oil and gas sector. If we look at how much we are spending to even service the debt we have, what we are losing to theft is more than the loan. We are spending 90% of our revenue to service the debt profile. So, we have nothing left to develop the country.
We need somebody that has the knowledge of how to tackle that corruption, leakages of our oil and gas sector. I have not heard of any serious reform in the oil sector.
Therefore, we are going to be different and we are going to make sure that this economy works for us. This economy is underperforming and being swindled in a manner you will never think of. So, we are going to check that.”
Meanwhile, in the course of discussing how he is going to manage the economy of the country if given the opportunity to rule Nigeria, Yabagi Sani said:
“I will make sure that I run the economy in the way that it should be run. I will make sure that my fiscal policy is active and operational. The only reason why we find this confusion in the economy is because we put the problems on it, and you will make it crumble.
You ask yourself, where is the minister of Agriculture, where is the minister of industries, and the minister of health. Why should somebody who should manage my monetary policy leave his office like it is not important? So, we are in a confused setting and it is about leadership.
I will get central bank back to its traditional functions, which is to ensure that the currency is properly managed. I will make sure that I make enough money to invest in Agriculture, infrastructure and health sector. It is not by borrowing, you see. Nobody says you should not borrow. But even as a business man, the only time you borrow is when you know that you have exhausted all your internal resources. But there you are, borrowing billions and you are losing billions.”
The one time presidential aspirant also condemned the government officials for misappropriation of funds and neglecting their roles to make life better for people in the country, thereby breeding unemployed youths.
He also blamed the cause of insecurity on the fact that that the unemployed youths are starving and need to fend for themselves since the government has failed them. He said:
“The cause of insecurity is hunger. When someone is hungry, he is angry also. People you see taking arms against other brothers in the north and other places is because they cannot find anything to do in the midst of plenty. They know, because they can see how these governments are stealing our money. They don’t repair their roads, they don’t build schools for them, they don’t fund their health facilities but they take their children abroad when they are sick and they fly them to the best hospitals in the world.
The world like you truly know is a global village now. So, they can see all these things and hear the billions that these government officials are stealing. So, this is why people are like, okay, let us take arms against these people. We elected them and they have now become our worst enemies. Of course, nobody is happy that what is happening to us is happening in this country. You can easily see why unemployment is at almost 40%.
All these things are self inflicted problems in this country. I can crack it because solutions are there. We have the resources, we have the man power, and we have whatever you need in terms of making this economy function properly and serve the people. We have young population, graduates all over the place. We have the size of the economy and we are No 1in Africa in terms of GDP size, population and in terms of fabulously rich resources God has given us. All we need is leadership, to ensure that these things are turned to our advantage, not turned to liability.”
While speaking on which region in the region he thinks should take the presidential seat, come 2023, Yabagi said that it does not matter which regions wins the position.
“What does it matter if I say it is going to be from the South or from the North? The issue is that I always look at thus argument as a situation where people are just trying to overheat the polity. We are operating a constitutional democracy and it has a process. If you feel very strongly that the candidates must come from south or from north, go into the political parties and ensure that he is going to emerge from the political party. All of you should make sure you vote for that person.”
Finally, in his advice to Nigerians in preparation for the 2023 presidential election, Yabagi encouraged them to try out a new party and individual, as he pitched ADP as the best option for them.
I think the time has come for Nigerians to stop lamenting and vote ADP because we are not this kind of club as it seems like a cult system. Look at what happened to Buhari for instance. The man even went to be given the opportunity to change the country but look at what is happening today. The man cannot do anything simply because he was under that environment where you cannot do anything because it is a fixed situation of corruption. If all the passion the man came with and the zeal, they just brought it down and made nonsense of what he came with.
That is why I tell Nigerians that you cannot get a better president than Buhari if it is a matter of saying somebody who has sincerity of purpose and passion. But look at what has happened to him, because he found himself in a group where they don’t believe in what he was talking about. That is why we must give Nigerians new people and new faces the opportunity to change the situation of this country for the better.”
