PHOTO: BBC
• As presidential candidate reels out manifesto
The All Grassroots Alliance (AGA) party has urged the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be fair to all parties in the forthcoming 2019 general elections. National Chairman of the party, Dr. Olukayode Oshiariyo who said the commission should be truly independent, posited that this would present the country well both at the international and local levels.
While speaking at the first national convention and unveiling of the presidential candidate and other contestants, Oshiariyo also urged Nigerians to abide by the rules and regulations of the forthcoming elections.
According to him, the party has gained the confidence of most people within a short time after its registration, and would not disappoint the trust the people have in it. He also announced that the party has governorship candidates in 17 states, 124 candidates for state houses of assembly and 66 candidates for the National Assembly.
“We will never be party to any political gang-up but will be prepared to work with registered parties that share and believe in our party policy directions and visions for the grassroots mobilization,” he said.
Also speaking, the presidential candidate of the party, Chuks Nwachukwu, in his address, said if elected into office as president, he would restore the prosperity of the country.
This he said he would do by restoring value to the naira relative to foreign receipts, stabilising the naira and keeping it within an acceptable band of not less than 25 years; restoration of the confidence in naira as a medium of exchange, attract more internal and foreign investment into the economy, reduce the price of petrol, grow real and inclusive Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in excess of 20 per cent and check corruption and economic waste.
He also identified political liberation, accelerated infrastructural development, community based development and employment and adequate security for the citizenry as key points of his administration.
“The source of the increasing poverty of Nigeria despite astronomical increase in foreign revenues over the years is due to the monetization policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria that is driven by a corrupt interpretation and application of the constitutional provision creating the Federation Account and directing that proceeds to be distributed to the different tiers of government.
“The practical effect of the manner in which the Central Bank of Nigeria applies this provision through its monetization policy is that it credits the Federation Account, and hence the Nigerian economy, with the naira which it creates at current exchange rate for every dollar that the country earns and returns the dollar to the American economy. Its exchange control policies thereafter are aimed at defending the American dollar against the naira by controlling its availability to the Nigerian economy.
“The result is that since 1983 the naira has been falling against the dollar despite the astronomical growth in our foreign receipts over the period from ever rising crude oil prices and private sources. The persistent fall in the value of the naira, which is guaranteed by the policy of the CBN, no matter how much the Nigerian economy produces and exports, means persistent inflation which in turn means that more and more Nigerians are sent into poverty every year. While other countries are bringing their populations out of poverty, we are sending more of our own there. I will reverse this trend and institute a foreign exchange policy.”
