President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) government, according to Works Minister Babatunde Fashola, has delivered infrastructure projects better than the previous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.
On Friday in Abuja, Mr Fashola declared this at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Pre-Convention Policy Conference.
“When we first got in, our budget for the Ministry of Works, which included all of Nigeria’s roads, was N18 billion. That was less than my state’s budget in 2015.” This reveals the previous administration’s stance on infrastructure.
“So, if you budget N18 billion for roads and a new government with smaller budgets budgets N500 billion for the same roads, then two parties cannot be the same,” he explained.
The tremendous infrastructure development, according to the minister, distinguishes the APC from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The conference’s topic is “Consolidating Democracy: Scorecard, Impact, and the Road Ahead,” and it will explore the APC’s present and future policy priorities.
The former governor of Lagos State noted that the APC was founded with a clear mission to promote the well-being of Nigerians.
He did agree, though, that the party faced some difficulties that were not insurmountable.
Mr Fashola said that the APC administration’s huge road and rail infrastructure projects across the country were the result of intentional policy.
Mr Buhari, he claimed, ordered this to have an influence on people’s lives.
“We’re dealing with huge infrastructural issues.” Many additional projects include the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the second Niger Bridge, Boro-Bonny Apapa, Abuja-Kaduna, and others. Until now, all of these routes seemed to defy answers.
“In partnership with state governors, the Buhari APC-led government is facing them, and many of them will be finished this year or before the end of this administration,” he added.
Mr Fashola went on to say that the administration was using infrastructure development projects to redistribute wealth and create employment.
“From start to end, 19 million litres of fuel will be needed for the second Niger Bridge.” Thousands of tons of cement, thousands of tons of steel, and millions of cubic meters of sand.
“Construction businesses don’t make these things,” he explained, “but as soon as a contract is given, it sets in motion a supply and demand cycle.”
While confirming Fashola’s viewpoint, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Co-Chairman of the APC Pre-Convention Committee stated the PDP, particularly in his state, could not be compared to the APC.
He said that the PDP and APC were diametrically opposed.
“It irritates me to hear that all political parties are the same. Mr Fayemi stated, “I can tell you from our own experience in Ekiti, and you may see that in other states where the APC is in power.”
Professor Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno and the committee’s Co-Chairman, also stated that security in the North-East area has substantially improved in comparison to previous levels.
Mr Zulum, on the other hand, emphasized that there was still work to be done to rehabilitate all those displaced by conflict.
Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed, for her part, claimed the APC government’s social investment policy was producing positive outcomes.
She said that Nigeria has emerged as the country with the world’s fastest-growing social investment program.
The minister also stated that Nigeria’s economy has become completely diversified as a result of the Buhari-led APC administration’s various economic intervention plans.
“We’ve increased our revenue and shifted away from reliance on oil revenues to non-oil sources.”
“So, why did we start with oil income accounting for around 70% of our budget, and now we’re at a stage where non-oil revenues account for 5% of our budget, completely diversified today?”
“Our gross domestic product (GDP) from the oil industry is 8%, which implies the non-oil sector accounts for 92% of the economy.”
“What we need to do is increase diversification, extend and strengthen specific industries to achieve more,” she added.
Domestic income mobilization was a priority for the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, according to Mrs Ahmed.
She explained that the ministry was getting started by developing a “Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative.”
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