An aspiring to All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate Stanley Osifo has pledged to build new refineries and address national debts if he is elected president in 2023.
He said so in a statement issued on Monday in Lagos.
“Nigeria’s economy has seen calculated and orchestrated attacks for many years. I have researched and observed that Nigeria is getting poorer day by day.
“Nigeria’s massive debt burden is a problem that needs to be addressed. It seems to be on the rise.” Mr. Osyphus said.
The candidate, who denounced the enormous amount of money that is spent on subsidizing fuel, said that this must be addressed to reactivate the nation’s economy.
According to him, the financing of said subsidy has not only made the nation vulnerable to excessive indebtedness, but has also affected the execution of impactful projects in the country.
“We could deduce that the wealth and prosperity of Nigeria and Nigerians are taken out and given to other countries minute by minute.
“This is through subsidy provisions that do not have a contributory effect to our nation’s economic output.
“It depletes our foreign exchange reserves, employment capacity, NNP and GDP, increases pressure on government resources, which are very scarce, and destabilizes our economy and economic plans.
“One way to reverse this reverse trend and bring back wealth, prosperity, improved employment, economic renewal and national development is to build new refineries in areas of Nigeria.
“Existing moribund refineries that have become conduits for siphoning off the nation’s scarce financial resources would be sold to interested parties.
“When we have new refineries, Nigeria will become self-sufficient in the production of all derivatives of petroleum products,” said Osifo, also a 2019 PDP presidential hopeful.
The applicant said that he would save the enormous amount of money that is spent on the importation of petroleum derivatives.
He said that this would be channeled into the development and introduction of new economic paradigms that would have a positive impact on Nigerians in terms of productivity and massive employment opportunities.
“This action will change the current situation and will result in wealth creation. This, in turn, will make Nigerians prosper,” he added.
Osifo said that he had outlined plans to boost contemporary science, technology and digital platforms in economic recovery and development that would create wealth for Nigerians.
According to him, the innovations that developed and developing countries have adopted to shore up their internal and external income will be implemented to generate funds.
He said: “Agribusiness has one of the largest sources of wealth in the value chain. I plan to revive and support new agricultural settlements in Nigeria.
“Resource extraction is an area that I will standardize for the prosperity of Nigerians.”
He promised to guide and protect against any form of waste of economic resources and guarantee the reduction of public spending.
He said that if President Muhammadu Buhari is allowed to succeed as a young Nigerian, the challenges of health, security and power will be tackled with tact, firmness and sincerity of purpose.
Osifo said he was running for the presidential nomination for the second time to bring well-being, prosperity and security to Nigerians both at home and abroad.
(YAYA)