FILE: 80 promises Buhari, APC made to Nigerians five years ago

Exactly five years ago, President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office after ousting an incumbent president for the first time in the nation’s history.

The president emerged victorious after three unsuccessful attempts.

Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), made a lot of promises during the electioneering campaign, most of which TheCable compiled.

Below is a list of 80 of the promises which TheCable collated from the APC policy document and manifesto, Buhari’s 100 days covenant, speeches at campaign rallies and town hall meetings nationwide.

• Public declaration of assets and liabilities.
• State and community policing.
• Ban on all government officials from seeking medical care abroad.
• Implementation of the National Gender Policy, including 35% of appointive positions for women.
• Revival of Ajaokuta steel company.
• Generation, transmission and distribution of at least 20,000 MW of electricity within four years and increasing to 50,000 MW with a view to achieving 24/7 uninterrupted power supply within 10 years.
• Empowerment scheme to employ 740,000 graduates across the 36 states and the federal capital territory.
• Establishment of a free-tuition and scholarship scheme for pupils who have shown exceptional aptitude in science subjects at O’levels to study ICT-related courses.
• 720,000 jobs by the 36 states in the federation per annum (20,000 per state).
• Three million Jobs per year.
• [In another policy document by the APC] We will embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition schemes for graduates along with the creation of a small business loan guarantee scheme to create at least 5 million new jobs by 2019.
• Churches and Mosques would not pay taxes under national laws, but if they engage in businesses, the businesses would pay tax.
• Provision of allowances to the discharged but unemployed youth corps members for twelve months while in the skills and entrepreneurial development programme.
• Making our economy one of the fastest-growing emerging economies in the world with a real GDP growth averaging 10% annually. [In another instance, the APC promised 10-12% annual GDP growth].
• Creation of a Social Welfare Programme of at least Five Thousand Naira (N5000) that will cater for the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens upon the demonstration of children’s enrolment in school and evidence of immunisation to help promote family stability.
• Recruitment and training of at least 100,000 officers into the Nigerian police force and establish a Federal anti-terrorism agency.
• One free meal (to include fruits) daily, for public primary school pupils.
• Building an airport in Ekiti state.
• Eradication of state of origin, replacing that with state of residence to ensure Nigerians are Nigerians first, before anything else.
• Establishment of Crime Squad to combat terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, militants, ethno-religious and communal clashes nationwide.
• Working with the National Assembly towards the immediate enactment of a Whistle Blower Act.
• Economic stability for the ECOWAS nations and maintaining a strong, close and frank relationship with West Africa, South Africa, UK, USA, Canada, and other African countries.
• Establishing a conflict resolution commission to help prevent, mitigate and resolve civil conflicts within the polity.
• All political officer holders earn only the salaries and emoluments determined and approved by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC).
• Permanent peace in the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas such as Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Abia.
• As against fears in some quarters, Buhari while speaking with catholic bishops in Abuja back in February, promised not to Islamise Nigeria.
• Nationwide sanitation plans to keep Nigeria clean.
• Preserving the independence of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
• Simplifying immigration process to foster faster visa processing at points of entry.
• Special incentives to facilitate the education of the girl child.
• Full implementation of the national identification scheme to generate the relevant data.
• Making information technology, manufacturing, agriculture and entertainment key drivers of our economy.
• Balancing the economy across regions by the creation of 6 new Regional Economic Development Agencies (REDAs) to act as champions of sub-regional competitiveness.
• Putting in place a N300 billion regional growth fund (average of N50bn in each geo-political region) to be managed by the REDAs.
• Amending the constitution and the Land Use Act to create freehold/leasehold interests in land along with matching grants for states to create a nationwide electronic land title register on a state by state basis.
• Reviving and reactivating our minimally performing refineries to optimum capacity.
• Creating additional middle-class of at least 2 million new home owners in our first year in government and 1 million annually thereafter.
• In another policy document] Creating an additional middle class of at least 4 million new home owners by 2019 by enacting national mortgage single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses as well as reviewing the collateral qualification to make funding for home ownership easier, with 15 to 30 year mortgage terms.
• Enacting a national mortgage system that will lend at single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses.
• Injecting extra N30bn to the agricultural sector to create more agro-allied jobs by way of loans at nominal interest rates for capital investment on medium and commercial scale cash crops.
• You farm, government buys, guaranteeing a minimum price for selected crops and facilitate storage of agricultural products as and when necessary.
• Creating a national infrastructural development bank to provide loans at nominal interest rates exclusively for this sector.
• Construction of 3,000km of superhighway including service trunks.
• Building of up to 4,800km of modern railway lines – one third to be completed by 2019.
• At least one functioning airport is available in each of the 36 states.
• Ending gas flaring and ensuring sales of at least half of gas produce, within Nigeria.
• Speedily passing the much-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and ensuring that local content issues are fully addressed.
• Establishing at least six new universities of science and technology with satellite campuses in various states.
• Establishing six centres of excellence to address the needs of special education.
• Prioritising the reduction of the infant mortality rate by 2019 to three percent.
• Reducing maternal mortality by more than 70 percent.
• Reducing HIV/AIDs infection rate by 50% and other infectious diseases by 75 percent.
• Improving life expectancy by additional 10 years on average.
• Increasing the number of physicians from 19 per 1000 population to 50 per 1000.
• Increasing national health expenditure per person per annum to about N50,000 (from less than N10,000 currently).
• Increasing the quality of all federal government-owned hospitals to world class standard within five years.
• Ensuring timely payment of retirement benefits for all pensioned senior citizens and creating a poverty safety net for all aged citizens above the age of 65.
• Amending the constitution to require local governments to publish their meeting minutes, service performance data, and items of spending over N10 million.
• Requiring full disclosure in media outlets, of all government contracts over N100 million prior to award and during implementation at regular interval.
• Amending the constitution to remove immunity from prosecution for elected officers in criminal case.
• Initiating action to amend the Nigerian constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties, and responsibilities to states in order to entrench true federalism and the federal spirit.
• Reforming and strengthening the justice system for efficient administration and dispensation of justice with the creation of special courts for accelerated hearing of corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism and similar cases of national importance.
• Establishing world-class sports academy and training institutes and ensure that Nigeria occupies a place of pride in global sports and athletics.
• Reviving the Nigerian football league and putting incentives in place to make it as competitive as other national leagues.
• Putting in place measures to identify talents early and ensuring their participation in local and international games to enable them become professionals.
• Assisting Nollywood to fully develop into world class movie industry that can compete effectively with Hollywood and Bollywood in due course.
• Ensuring the rights of women are protected as enshrined in our constitution.
• Guaranteeing that women are adequately represented in government appointments and providing greater opportunities in education, job creation and economic empowerment.
• Promoting the concept of reserving a minimum number of seats in the National Assembly for women.
• Free maternal and children healthcare services.
• Stabilising the naira.
• Targeting up to 20% of our annual budget for this critical sector whilst making substantial investments in training quality teachers at all levels of the educational system (Some other APC policy documents had 15%).
• Ensuring compliance with policies and measures to halt the pollution of rivers and waterways in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.
• Adopting a holistic approach to erosion and shoreline protection across the country.
• ECOWAS currency by 2020 under Nigeria’s guidance and leadership.
• Maintaining strong, close and frank relationships within the Gulf of Guinea, the Commonwealth, South Africa and the rest of the world.
• Establishing a new special relationship with the leading emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and other strategic partners around the world.
• [On Boko Haram] Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connections to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of this evil.
• Strengthening INEC to reduce, if possible, eliminate electoral malpractices in Nigerian’s political life.
• Free Education at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and education.