The Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Prince Adebayo Adewole, has said that Nigeria is not having a high cost of governance but a high cost of corruption and if voted into office during this month’s election, he would bring in competent people to salvage the situation.
He equally disagreed that the nation’s problem is a lack of manpower, saying what the country lacks is good and qualitative leadership that can harness the talents and resources in the country for its development.
Prince Adewole spoke on Thursday during a parley organized by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, held at the Institute’s premises at Kuru, Plateau State.
He decried the gross decay of public infrastructure in the country and promised to revamp them and put it to proper use, stressing that the solution to the myriad of problems confronting Nigeria lies in Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, hence the reason the manifesto of his party hinges on the chapter and urged the electorate to let their values reflect in the way they vote on February 25.
His words, “The country is overwhelmed with manpower; there is no shortage of manpower. There are a lot of people who can do fantastically well if given the chance and opportunities. If I am elected, our party has over 500 competent people who can be brought on board to salvage the situation. There is enough manpower.
“Another question is: When a leader is recruiting, what is his purpose? If you are recruiting people to come and help you cover up, then you will not recruit independent-minded people. If you are recruiting people to help you recover your campaign fund, there will be no progress. Your motive must be right and in tandem with the reality on the ground.
“On the rule of law, all I will say is that I will be under the law, not above the law.
the cost of governance in Nigeria is not a problem but the cost of corruption is. If you remove corruption, the cost will come down.
“And that is what we intend to do if elected… It is like our public institutions are weaker than before; efficiency is no longer there. The summary is that everything we have built, including fantastic institutions like NIPSS and our universities, has been an apologetic defender of the status quo.
“The reason we haven’t achieved the basic milestones is that we interrogate and criticize those who want to change the status quo, and we also recruit people to join the status quo. This is your chance to form the government; let your value reflect in the way you vote.
“It is good that you have your PVC, but you must have the sense to know what the issues are on the ground. So that you don’t use your PVC to imprison yourself, you must be open-minded; forget about your tribe, religion, and other sentiments.”
Earlier, the Director General of NIPSS, Professor Ayo Omotayo urged Nigerians to patronize what they have at home, stating that candidates going to Chatham House benefit little as the audience there does not vote in the country during elections.
