The February 16, 2019 Presidential election will be Nigeria’s date with destiny as it will determine whether the country will make progress or go back to the days of corruption and impunity, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
The Vice President stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he addressed a cross-section of Nigerians at the “Drive 4 Buhari/Osinbajo Rally” – an initiative of the “I am Ready Campaign Group”, organized to mobilize support for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, “February 16, 2019 is our date! It is the date of our country with destiny; that is the date we will decide whether we want to go forward or we want to go backwards.
“All that President Buhari has tried to do in these past four years, is first of all, clean up the big mess that we met. The major problem of our country has always been corruption; stealing of the resources of the people.
“I have never heard it before, where a person after stealing your money says: “I am the one who can come back and help you”.
The “Drive 4 Buhari Osinbajo” Rally – one of the highpoints of Prof. Osinbajo’s Tuesday outings, started as early as 9 a.m. with thousands of volunteers within and around the FCT converging on the Eagle Square arena to register their support for the Buhari presidency.
The drive-through rally involved thousands of volunteers many of whom drove their cars and tricycles adorned with President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s posters from satellite towns of Gwagwalada, Zuba, Nyanya, Kuje and other suburbs of the FCT, through the various parts of the city to the Eagle Square, all indicating their support for Buhari’s re-election.
At the Eagle Square, thousands of admirers and supporters of Buhari and Osinbajo chanted victory songs to welcome the Vice President as he made a grand entrance into the arena for the final phase of the programme.
Also on ground to spice up the event were entertainers who danced and sang popular songs to the admiration of all.
Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo said the choice of whom to vote for in the coming elections should not be very difficult as President Buhari is renowned for his integrity, “even Buhari’s worst enemies know that he is an honest man, even the thieves know that he is an honest man.”
Speaking specifically about the programmes and projects executed by the Buhari-led Federal Government, the Vice President said the achievements recorded so far were as a result of prudent and transparent management of resources.
He said: “for the first time, our country is spending money on roads and railways. They have been talking about railways since, for the past 16 years, but we have just started building the Lagos – Kano railway now.
“We are earning less money but we are doing far more. We are also building the Itakpe – Warri railway and even the 2nd Niger Bridge. They commissioned the 2nd Niger Bridge before, but when they commissioned it, there was no design. Today, we have started to build the 2nd Niger Bridge.
“In every State in Nigeria, we are building a major road; we are going to complete the Lagos – Calabar railway, by the grace of God, Port Harcourt – Maiduguri is also going to be completed.”
In the Power Sector, Prof. Osinbajo said “after 16 years, 3000MW of power is all that we had, but today we are at 7000MW. But we have not even started yet, because we know that power is still a problem, so we are trying to solve the problem.”
He said the Federal Government in its determination to address the challenge had adopted measures to address issues of both generation and transmission.
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“In Sabon Gari market, we have a separate solar power plant and many of the shops have power now. In Ariaria market in Abia, we have also done the same thing, we also did the same thing in Sura market in Lagos, and we also put power in Edaiken market in Benin.
“Very soon, our country will have enough power with the plan that we have, to provide power separately, only through the National Grid, but to provide power to the different parts of our country so that our country will have power”, the Vice President added.
Prof. Osinbajo assured Nigerians that “President Buhari has a plan, and he is an honest man, and he is making sure that he executes that plan”.
In a related development, the Vice President on Tuesday inaugurated the Buhari Media Centre; continued the Family Chat series, all in Gwarimpa and also interacted with artisans and traders at the UTC complex and the Tipper Garage market, all in the FCT.
At the UTC Plaza in Area 10 – a popular printing hub in the FCT, the Vice President paid a visit to artisans and traders, interacting with them on the activities and programmes of the Federal Government.
On arrival at the plaza, the Vice President was welcomed amidst cheers and dancing by the mammoth crowd.
Prof. Osinbajo interacted with some artisans and traders at the plaza, assuring them of a better Nigeria with President Buhari on the saddle beyond 2019.
Earlier in Gwarimpa, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo inaugurated the Buahri Media Centre in Abuja and had a brief interaction with Nigerians via a live Facebook interview on the activities and programmes of the Buhari administration.
He said: “there is no reason why young Nigerians can’t be trained and equipped for outsourced jobs from big technology firms around the world to troubleshoot and handle customer care questions and be paid by those global tech firms. This explains the Federal Government’s push towards technology.”
The Vice President emphasized that the business of improving Nigeria’s economy is not just by talking and wondered why “those trying to come back did nothing, for example, to fix the Lagos-Ibadan expressway or the Second Niger Bridge for which there was not even a design until the Buhari presidency did it”.
He also made an unscheduled stop at the Tipper Garage Market in Gwarimpa where he interacted briefly with traders, shoppers and people in the market, many of whom received him with cheers and singing in what was an exciting atmosphere.
