A political group in Nigeria says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo showed the gulf in class between him and other Vice Presidential candidates as he blew his compatriots away with his insight on constitutional, economic, security and social development issues.
The Initiative to Save Democracy (ISD) explained that Osinbajo who is seeking reelection in office alongside incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, riveted his class as the best Vice President in Nigeria’s history.
President of the group, Sunday James Akinloye said Osinbajo, a proficient orator and inarguably Nigeria’s favourite Vice President proved that he was no fluke as he displayed his dexterity, aura and finesse at the Vice Presidential debate which held at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on 14 December 2018.
The debate organized by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) had four other Vice Presidential candidates in attendance, Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ganiyu Galadima of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN); Khadija Abdullahi-Iya of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) and Umma Getso of Young Progressive Party (YPP).
“Stating categorically how the ruling government will take Nigerians to the next level when re-elected, Osinbajo noted that the government will continue to build on infrastructure and human capital development,” the group said in a statement.
ISD explained that Osinbajo used verifiable facts to buttress his points compared to other candidates. “What we intend to do is to build on what we are doing and that is why we are talking of the Next Level. We have moved 24 places up on the Ease of Doing Business,” the Vice President said at the debate.
“We need to improve power transmission, we need to improve our rail and road infrastructure to boost our economy, the Vice President explained.
The group stated that the VP also took on the topic of direct foreign investment. “Foreign Investment will come when we create an environment for local industries. We are also looking at the taxation regime and will continue to ensure that small and medium businesses continue to thrive,” Akinloye said quoting Osinbajo.
“The Vice President drew the biggest cheer of the debate when he replied Peter Obi, the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP insinuated that the ruling All Progressives Congress had left its shop and was chasing thieves.
In response, Prof Osinbajo said, “If you allow criminals to steal all the inventories in the shop, there will be no shop. That’s the problem and the World Bank said that corruption is the major impediment to Nigeria’s development.
Speaking on power, Osinbajo said, “I think the common denominator between the two countries you mentioned is the strong infrastructure,” the VP said referring to the mention of China and South Africa, adding that, while under President Buhari, power generation capacity has climbed to over 7,000 megawatts.
Akinloye said Prof Osinbajo explained that Nigeria in the past 16 years has suffered a major infrastructure deficit. “So, we don’t have rails, roads. When we came into power in 2015, power was 4,000MW in 16 years,” the incumbent Vice President said.
“So, you need strong infrastructure. No one can argue about it. The second thing is you cannot have a strong economy if you allow the type of grand corruption that has taken place in Nigeria in the last 16 years,” Osinbajo added.
Akinloye noted that the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP was observed by many, especially on social media, to have been economical with some of the data he churned out.
Citing instances, Akinloye said he had claimed that Nigeria had over 2 million cars, however checks from data released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the third quarter of 2017 alone, there were over 11.5 Million cars in the country.
Immediately, social media users took on this issue and have made posts calling out the Vice Presidential Candidate.
After the two hour, 30 minutes debate, the Vice Presidential candidates were awarded certificates of participation after which they took a group photograph.
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