Senator Ali Wakili representing Bauchi South in the Senate and Chairman of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation said his party the ruling All Progressives Congress has done exceedingly well in meeting the expectations of Nigerians.
He stated this in a chat with Daily Sun. Wakili said among other things that it was impossible about two years ago for one to go to some part of the north because of insecurity in the region occasioned by the activities of the dreaded Islamist sect Boko Haram but today the security situation in the region is now better imagined than real.
Security of lives and property, according to him, has improved tremendously that residents could now sleep with one eye open, one of the major achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari and the governing All Progressives’ Congress.
On the economic front, he said the need to diversify arose and they had to unavoidably give President Buhari recommendations in this regard which he accepted and happily enough they are being implemented which are also yielding dividends.
Below is an extract of the interview with Daily Sun.
Excerpts:
Sincerely speaking, how would you assess the leadership of your party, the APC so far? Do you think your party has met the expectations of Nigerians?
Without mincing words, we have done our best and our best has come. Prior to our coming, two years ago, you would not even want to venture out to come to this very place at this material time. The number of security check points you would have passed through will be so agonizing that you would have kept yourself indoors. That is one. If you look at the fact that the government is doing its best to resuscitate the economy, you will appreciate the APC government. A high powered committee under the Vice President is chairing the economic team. From the legislative side, you would have discovered that last December we came up with 24 point resolutions, advising the presidency on how to get out of recession so that Nigerians can smile. Remember we kicked against selling of government assets. Remember we advised the government to diversify the economy, and happily Mr. President himself agreed with those resolutions and he has set many things into motion. We came and met a backlog of problems. Most of the states were not paying salaries. The president was magnanimous enough to give bailout to all states. He has discovered that for us to regenerate the economy there must be growth. How can there be growth? We must improve the capital budget. For the first time in years the 2017 budget has provision for over 30 percent of the budget dedicated to rejuvenating the infrastructures-roads and others. There will be construction. There will be works going on.
Artisans and professionals have employment. You see I will draw copiously from my state because that is my immediate environment. You have seen the governor and the government showcasing some health Centres and boreholes at our health institutions. It is the APC government under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari that was magnanimous enough and gave 1.5 million US dollars to each of those states to go and ensure that the healthcare system is improved and sustained so that the lives of the people is improved upon.
The APC government is very sensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the people.
There are so many things for us to celebrate and for us to feel proud that the votes of the people have not gone in vain taking into accounts what happened prior to the coming of the APC government.
We also have the social protection safety net, which is just a stop gap because when the APC took over and when Mr. President was campaigning, the quantum of youths that was always surging forward to receive him that were unemployed, gave us concern. So we are only trying to temporarily ameliorate the situation pending permanent solution. Last year, 200, 000 youths benefitted from the N-Power. In 2017 it is expected that 150, 000 would benefit. This is apart from other programmes like the social protection programme, where the poor get monthly stipend of N5000. So, by and large, Nigerians are happy with the APC government.
