Peter Obi, Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate has unveiled his policy thrust if elected president of Nigeria in 2023 vowing to unite and leapfrog Nigeria from oil to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

Obi who is in the United States of America in continuation of his international consultations with the Diasporas stressed that the Labour Party administration will birth a truly zero tolerance for corruption in government business and block leakages.

The former governor of Anambra State gave a vivid picture of what his government will do in all critical areas as he responded to questions from Harvard eggheads on Wednesday at the famous University’s Fireside chat on Prospects of Transformative Governance in Nigeria.

He gave cognitive answers to the over 20 questions posed by the University relating to virtually all areas of governance, restructuring, corruption, security, foreign policy, subsidy, ASUU etc.

On what his top three priorities will be if elected Nigeria President, Obi said Production-centered growth for food security and export; Securing and Uniting Nigeria; and Leapfrogging Nigeria from oil to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR); Effective legal and institutional reforms (rule of law, corruption and government effectiveness); Expanding physical infrastructure through market-driven reforms (unleashing growth-enabling entrepreneurship and market-creating innovations); Human capital development that empowers competitiveness; and Robust foreign policy that restores Nigeria’s strategic relevance.

When asked frontally if the corrupt will be allowed to keep their loots, Obi gave an outright answer saying “We will have zero tolerance for corruption; block leakages and cut the cost of governance. Our total commitment to transparency and accountability in government business is the only credible way to achieve limited to zero corruption.

“The policies required to fight corruption already exist; it is the political will to implement them that has been lacking. My governance modalities have always been forward-looking and will remain so. We will negotiate the return of our stolen national wealth from the custodial countries.

On Subsidy issues in Petroleum and Electricity, the LP candidate said that “There are two elements of subsidy- the corruption component and the real subsidy component. The oil subsidy arrangement as it stands is fraught with criminality. It is unacceptable. For corruption, we will deal with it decisively which will reduce the subsidy cost by over 50%

“There will be weighted measures and counter-balance policies and programmes to cushion the impact of the removal of oil subsidy, if and when it is removed. The difference is that now, only some sacred and self-entitled few benefit from the oil subsidy. That narrative will change.

“We will support local refining for domestic use and priced strictly in Naira. Starting with all government vehicles, we will transition to gas-powered cars. (Daily Independent)

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