The Vice Presidential debates put together by Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) has taken place.
An independently administered multi-stage process led to the selection of five political parties that partook in Friday’s Vice Presidential debate.
Read about how the five parties were selected here.
Present at the debate were Ganiyu Galadima of the ACPN, Khadijah Abdullahi-Iya of the ANN, Professor Yemi Osinbajo of the APC, Mr Peter Obi of the PDP and Umma Getso of the YPP.
The debate was an interesting one with the Vice-Presidential candidates stating categorical their plans for Nigeria and answering critical questions about the growth of the nation and its future.
Channelstv.com was on the ground at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja where the debate took place.
7:00pm The moderator, Imoni Amarere, welcomes the five vice presidential candidates participating in the debate and others. He assures Nigerians that none of the candidate has seen the questions to be asked.
Amarere, thereafter, introduces the candidates participating in the debate.
ACPN Vice Presidential Candidate, Ganiyu Galadima, gives his remarks. He says there is a need to fix the economy.
He says between 2015 and now, Nigeria has recorded little or no improvement in governance. He also blames unemployment rate which he says is “becoming higher” on the “wrong policy” of the government.
ANN Vice Presidential Candidate Khadijah Abdullahi-Iya introduces herself. She says she is a nation builder, lawyer, and social entrepreneur.
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She says she is passionate about women and the plight of children and believes that everybody should all be concerned about the plight of children in the country.
As a wife and a mother of seven, she says he is committed to ensuring that Nigerians gets the opportunity they deserve in their pursuit of happiness.
APC Vice Presidential Candidate, Yemi Osinbajo introduces himself. He says the Federal Government has begun some of the largest infrastructure projects in the history of the nation.
He adds that they are producing 90% of the rice that the nation consumes and Nigeria is importing only 2% of what it used to import.
PDP Vice Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, is speaking. He says Nigeria has become the country with the highest number of poor people in the world. He adds that the nation has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world while unemployment rate has risen significantly.
“As long as we don’t create jobs and have the number of unemployed youths in their productive age that we have today, we are going to have crisis,” says Obi.
YPP Vice Presidential Candidate, Umma Getso, introduces herself. She says she has a passion for the girl child education and has spent the early years of her adulthood in the development of a common Nigeria.
She says she has been to the lowest level of Nigeria’s standard of living and knows how Nigerians are suffering. Getso adds that her party believes so much in a new Nigeria, where every Nigerian will have equal rights and a story to tell in the near future.
Ganiyu Galadima believes Nigeria lacks the capacity to determine the rate at which the naira is exchanged for other currencies in the world.
Khadijah Abdullahi-Iya says poverty has become endemic in every aspect. She adds that despite all efforts by the present government, the ANN administration will overhaul the economy completely.
Yemi Osinbajo says the Muhammadu Buhari administration has begun a major road project in every state of the Federation.
Peter Obi says the vice president has a role to play and the most critical role should be the economy.
He says the number one problem of the country is its economy and the vice president is in charge of rebuilding the economy and creating jobs for the people.
Umma Getso says there is no party except YPP in Nigeria that has given priority to women. She says Kingsley Moghalu’s administration will give equal opportunities to men and women to serve in his government at all levels.
Ganiyu Galadima says the nation is at a critical stage and Nigerians need to vote for candidates based on the manifestoes they present to them. He warns that the economy now very vulnerable and can collapse at any time.
Khadijah Abdullahi-Iya believes the decision the people should make in 2019 is whether they want more of the last four years or a departure from the last four years.
She said, “We all have experienced first-hand the pains of the last four years brought upon us by that runs a government. What Nigeria needs is freedom from this bondage called the cabal.”
For Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria is where it is today because of 16 years of misrule. He, however, says the present administration has taken steps to “repair the damages that have been done” by tackling the leakages in government.
Peter Obi says the Atiku/Obi Presidency is about making Nigeria work again. He adds that their administration will care for Nigerians, especially the youths to discourage them from embarking on perilous journey in search of greener pastures.
Umma Getso says in 2015, Nigerians had no better choice than the present government but now, Moghalu stands a better chance to give them the Nigeria they deserve.
Source – Channels Television
