Give me ticket, I will deliver presidency to PDP, Anyim assures opposition party

Taking a potshot at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayu said, “The other political party does not have that kind of quality“

By Emma Ogbuehi

A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, on Wednesday threw a bold challenge to the party leadership: Give me the party’s ticket and I will deliver presidency to the PDP.

Anyim is one of the 17 aspirants – 16 men and one woman – jostling for the party’s presidential ticket. The opposition party has slated its presidential primary election for May 28.

But the former Senate president took a bold step on Wednesday when he addressed the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) unveiling his agenda.

In a speech that earned him a standing ovation, Anyim said his vision was to build a Nigeria that all Nigerians shall be proud of.

He said in his entire 31 years of public service, he had worked only in the presidency as a civil servant, President of the Senate and head of the presidential secretariat as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

“My vision is to build a Nigeria all of us shall be proud of. In my entire public service career, I worked only in the presidency: As a civil servant in two parastatals in the presidency. As president of the Senate, I worked alongside a president. As Secretary to the Government of the Federation, I functioned as the engine room of the presidency in the glorious PDP administration of President Goodluck Jonathan,” he said.

“I trained as a lawyer and obtained LL.B Hons, BL and LL.M. I joined the party at inception in 1998 and had remained faithful to the party till date. My experience is cognate, my capacity is proven, my nationalist disposition is established and my knowledge of our country is profound,” he further said. 

Read Also: Don’t jettison zoning, defend party’s constitution, Anyim tells PDP NWC

Anyim said from the vantage positions he has held in government, he understands the challenges the country faces and has a clarity of vision of what the solutions are.

“If you give me the ticket of our great party, I shall surely win the general election and return to Government as President to continue the truncated good work PDP was doing for the country,” Anyim said emphatically.

In his short remarks after Anyim’s impassioned speech, a visibly elated PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyprchia Ayu, said such a wonderful speech can only come from the PDP.

“On behalf of the NWC, we want to sincerely thank Senator Anyim for that eloquent presentation which can only come from the PDP,” the former Senate President said.

Taking a potshot at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayu said, “The other political party does not have that kind of quality.”

Ayu said the likes of Anyim gives him hope that all is not lost in the country. “Hope is on the way. Hope is when we see people like Anyim coming forward. As at this moment, we have 17 aspirants who have bought presidential nomination form – 16 men and one woman. That shows the strength of the PDP and I believe that any of them will do better than the APC. What we have in the last sixy years is complete disaster.

He also praised Anyim for been a faithful party member.

“I am happy when you said you have never left the PDP since inception. The PDP will never leave you,” he prayed.

The speech reads in part:   

MY PATHWAY TO A GREATER NIGERIA

From the vantage positions I have held, I understand the challenges confronting our nation today and I have clarity of what the solutions could be.

The purpose of my being here today is to present to you my informed pathway to rebuilding and refocusing our country on the part of growth, peace and prosperity. Let me say that my presentation is not a manifesto as I shall implement the party manifest but my personal pathway to give meaning to our party manifesto. I shall outline my understanding of the problems and my evidence-informed pathway to resolving them under three broad categorizations: Political, Economic and Social integration.

POLITICAL FOUNDATION FOR GREATER NIGERIA

In formulating political policies for greater Nigeria, my administration shall take into consideration the following challenges of our time.

1. The greatest challenge of our nationhood today is the lack of consensus on:  the structure of our nation, The governance system and National ideals or aspiration.

I make bold to say that the absence of consensus on these areas account for the disunity and mutual suspicion that threaten our country today.

• At the formation of our nation (Union) there were lots of negotiations, constitutional conferences and even the Willinks Commission to allay the fears of the minority tribes. The lesson here is that the buy-in-of all component segments of the nation is required to build the nation.
• Given that democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, therefore, any policy of government that does not have the buy-in of the people is not likely to succeed. This accounts for the failure of several attempts to advance our nation.

Our Pathway

As part of our political consolidation process,

1. We shall provide a platform for broad-based consultations and frank dialogue on a generally acceptable new foundation for our nation.
2. We shall put the machinery in place to harvest the views and secure the buy-in of all components of our polity and build consensus on: the structure of the federation, an acceptable governance system and benchmark agreed national aspiration to which all shall commit.

      c.) consensus building shall be the hallmark of our

          administration.

d.) We shall deploy a visionary leadership style that shall respond to the aspirations of the people.

                              Anticipated outcome:

                              – Mutual suspicion will be eliminated,

                              – unity of purpose will be ensured,

                              – patriotism will be inspired,

                              – and we shall be united in our commitment to building a nation of our dream.  

1. ECONOMIC FOUNDATION FOR GREATER NIGERIA

In developing our economic policies, we shall take cognizance of the following:

1. That the oil economy will become unsustainable in the next 15 years.
2. That the role of government in the 21^st century should appropriately be to promote market-based solutions.
3. That the advent of the 4^th industrial revolution, has refocused the world economic direction on, knowledge, talent, and innovation
4. That arising from the 4^th industrial revolution there will be an upscale of artificial intelligence and as a result, automation will displace many jobs and disruptive technologies and innovations will restructure the mode and factors of production.
5. That the impending debt crisis and the weakness of the naira accompanied by rising inflationary trends will compound our already terrible economic situation.

Our pathway

in view of the above, our economic agenda therefore, shall be anchored on the following development pistons:

–        Industrialization

–        Talent and innovation

–        Science and Technology  

A.       INDUSTRIALISATION

1. We shall promote industrialization at various scales i.e. large, medium and small scales. This will drastically reduce importation, improve local production and strengthen the naira.
2. We shall promote micro, small and medium enterprises. Our policy on this shall segment the enterprises according to their sectors e.g., technical, hybrid, recreation, instructional etc and support them with training, marketing, technology, start-up funds. Etc.
3. Review Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIPR) to make it fit for purpose and ensure it aligns with our growth ambition.

B.      TALENT AND INNOVATION

Talent and innovations shall be the flagship of the knowledge-based component of our economic agenda. Our target will be to unleash the creativity of our young population. Accordingly, we shall in this regard, establish innovation hubs in various parts of the country to create and nature start-ups in the information and e-commerce space. 

The ultimate goals are to generate gainful employment especially for the youth, encourage productivity, attract foreign investment via venture capital and strengthen the naira.

C.      SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Through science and technology, we shall reposition our mode and factors of production to fit into the 4^th industrial revolution. This shall affect all sectors including Agriculture but more particularly the enablers of growth and prosperity i.e security, infrastructure, healthcare, education, governance, justice system etc.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOME OF OUR ECONOMIC PATHWAY

–        To focusour economy on the path of the new world economic direction.

–        To drastically reduce importation, improve local production and strengthen the naira.

–        Productivity will be enhanced as private sector participation in the economy shall be the fulcrum of our economic model.

–        Gainful employment will be enhanced and dignity of labour restored.

–        Foreign direct investment will grow and foreign venture capital attracted.

–        Science and technology will ensure that our mode and factors of production is adaptive to the demands of the 4^th industrial revolution.

–        Modernity, precision, quality and systematic processes and procedures will shapen and deliver expected results on all enablers of growth and prosperity.

• NATIONAL INTEGRATION AND SOCIAL HARMONY 

In developing our policies under this segment, we shall be conscious of the following:

1. That never before in our history has our nation been as divided as it is today, along the lines of ethnicity and religion.
2. That separatist agitations have become a national problem.

–        Boko Haram – Islamic State

–        IPOB – Biafra State

–        Igboho – Oduduwa State ETC

• Kidnapping and banditry have become choice occupations.

• That at the root of all the agitations are bad governance, discrimination, nepotism, mediocrity, and denial of the dividends of democracy.

• That non state actors have unhindered access to superior arms to confront, and in some cases, overpower state actors.

• That the capacity of the state to protect lives and property has been severely weakened.

• That poverty, hunger and deprivation have sapped the self-confidence of our citizens, weakened their faith in the country and eroded their sense of patriotism.

OUR PATHWAY

Accordingly, our national integration policies shall evolve as follows:

1. We shall run inclusive governance that shall reflect the Federal Character of our country without compromising merit and competence.

1. We shall promote equality of all citizens before the law and protect the independence of the judiciary.

1. In line with the rule of law, we shall build strong institutions, promote and protect the sanctity of lives as well as the right and liberties of all citizens.

1. We shall promote, consultations, dialogue and negotiations in order to secure the buy-in of our citizens in the governance process.

• We shall efficiently and effectively manage our diversity within the frame work of equity, justice, fairness and inclusion.

ANTICIPATED   OUTCOME

–        Women, youth and the diaspora shall be adequately mainstreamed into our national development, efforts.

 –       Citizens shall be proud of their country and relate with one another on the basis of shared destiny and identity.

–        Citizens shall be at liberty to aspire to any opportunity in the land on the basis of competence and capacity.

–        Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, and religion will be eliminated

–        Citizens shall play active roles in policy formulation

–        The rule of law shall be upheld.

          CONCLUSION

          ZONING

If I appear before you today without touching on the raging issues of zoning in our party, my presentation will not be complete.

As a true party man, I will abide by the decision of the party. However, I would want to put the following on record:

1. Democracy thrives on three ‘certainties’:
2. Certainty of tenure
3. Certainty of structure
4. Certainty of process

At anytime any of these ‘certainties’ is no longer guaranteed, democracy will corrupt justice and enthrone inequity. Accordingly, my appeal is that zoning being a fundamental principle of our party should not be jettisoned.

• Democracy, being a system of rules and order, depends on strong institutions for its sustenance and success. When a system can no longer defend its rules, it will enthrone the reign of might as against the rule of law.

My appeal is that PDP should defend Sec. 7 (3) (c) of its constitution.

I seek your prayers and partnership on this collective journey. I trust that I can count on your support and goodwill at all times. Together, we shall make Nigeria great again.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA.