Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s vice presidential candidate, has urged Nigerians to hold the party accountable if it fails to transform Nigeria’s economy from a consumption-driven to a productive, technologically driven economy if given the mandate to lead the country’s affairs.
Baba-Ahmed made the announcement at a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
The vice presidential candidate also stated that Nigerians should hold the LP accountable if it fails to transform Nigeria’s arable lands, particularly in the north, into “new oil,” as well as to build the necessary human capital and skill.
The former lawmaker noted that the same people who campaigned in 2015, though now in different camps, have renewed the same promises which none has been fulfilled, adding that even the simplest one, in terms of provision of bursaries for students, promised in 2015, and repeated in 2019 are yet to be achieved.
He said, “We have asked them to hold us responsible if we fail to move Nigeria from consumption to a productive economy. We have asked them to hold us accountable if we fail to build a twenty-first century economy propelled by technology and if we fail to transform the vast arable lands in Nigeria especially in northern Nigeria into the ‘New Oil’. We will bear the full responsibility if we fail to build the required human capital and skill for the twenty-first century economy.”
He maintained that the possibility is that of a country propelled by good governance and production to significantly improve the general well-being of the vast majority of Nigerians and guarantee their security and prosperity which is a message the presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has taken around the country.
He further remarked, “Let me reiterate, we shall stop the killing and start the healing. We shall stop the stealing and start the keeping. We shall stop the slide and start the climb of our economy.”
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to sustain being an impartial arbiter and not to frustrate the will of potential voters while urging security agencies to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.
“I, therefore, sustain the call on INEC to be an impartial umpire and not frustrate the will of the people. I implore the security agencies, the police, the military, the Department of State Security and other uniformed officers to conduct themselves with utmost responsibility and resist the temptation to subvert the will of the people,” he said.
He also urged Nigerians to grab the best opportunity of taking back their country and ushering in a new Nigeria.