The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said he will allow his opponents in the 2023 presidential elections to keep promoting untruths and rumours about his bid.
Tinubu said this on Thursday during a town hall meeting with mining and agro-processing stakeholders in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
He reeled out how he would revive the multimillion naira moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State and transform the solid mineral sector as alternative sources of revenue.
The former Lagos State Governor further promised to consolidate on the “progress” President Muhammadu Buhari/APC-led government made in agriculture.
Tinubu cajoled his opposition candidates, saying that because they lacked focus and direction, rather than articulating issue-based campaigns, they resorted to open attack on persons and personalities; adding that they (clearly referring to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) squandered the goodwill and betrayed the trust bestowed on them by Nigerians.
“We shall allow the desperate, devoid-of-substance campaigns of others engage in divisive identity politics and the promotion of untruths and ugly rumours.
“We, the APC, shall continue to stand before the Nigerian people to discuss the real issues of the day and offer insight into the policy solutions we intend to deploy to solve them. In this, we remain the best and only hope for progressive good governance in Nigeria.
“Few nations are as well-endowed as Nigeria, given our industrious, energetic population and our vast inventory of land, water and natural resources. Our beloved nation has abundant, commercially viable solid mineral deposits such as coal, limestone, iron ore, bitumen, lead, zinc, gold and a variety of gemstones.
“It is the obligation of the government to use these gifts wisely to benefit the nation and improve the living standards of the average Nigerian,” Tinubu was quoted as saying.
According to him, the solid mineral sector alone can turn around the fortune of the country, saying that Ajaokuta Steel Company would become operational and be contributing to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“We seek to turn this economy into a more active engine of growth, productivity, jobs and income. We seek to establish a broad-based economy that ensures broadly-shared prosperity for all.
“Solid minerals and mining will play key roles in our campaign toward prosperity and our economic offensive against poverty and underdevelopment.
“The solid minerals sector contributed less than 1% to our GDP in 2020. We need to increase this amount every year. My administration will develop the solid minerals sector, establishing policies that will encourage investment for growth in that sector.
“My administration will ensure the full completion and operation of the Ajaokuta Steel Company under a viable Public-Private Partnership structure,” he added.
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