The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has officially declared to contest the 2023 presidential election.
The presidential aspirant declared his intention to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, next year on Monday at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Central Business District, Abuja.
While delivering his speech, Bakare said if elected president, his government would largely be based on carefully designed four areas of focus.
According to him, as president, “my administration will deliver on four mandates, namely Peace, Progress, Prosperity, and Possibilities.”
He said, “Today, I am offering myself to close the distance between the Nigerian reality and every Nigerian dream; to unlock the power of public policy to accelerate transformation; to infuse our young people with a surge of hope for what is possible; to roll my sleeves up and work to solve Nigeria’s most intractable problems; to build a cutting-edge nation at the forefront of innovation; to create a new dynamic of belonging in which everyone has a seat and a say; I am committed to the realisation of a new Nigeria for every Nigerian in my lifetime.
“This is why I am formally announcing that I am running for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections.”
The cleric, who was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election, said he understands the pains of Nigerians better and that informed his decision to contest next year’s election.
“I stand here before you today mindful of the realities, but hopeful enough to offer myself as a bridge; a bridge connecting the dreams of our founding patriots to the highway of every Nigerian dream; the ones deferred and the ones you still wake up to each morning; a bridge between today’s Nigeria and the one you know is possible. I stand here today to acknowledge that the realisation of my dreams was facilitated by Nigeria.”
On the four focus areas, the presidential aspirant said, “the Peace Mandate will achieve our policy thrust on Nationhood, Leadership, Governance and National Security. Through the Peace Mandate, we will reconcile and reintegrate the Nigerian people into true nationhood; galvanise a broad-based and competent leadership that can
unify Nigeria and harness our enormous potential; lead our nation on a pragmatic pathway to governance structure reforms; end the scourge of insecurity; and guarantee the safety and security of every Nigerian within Nigeria’s borders.
“Through the Progress Mandate, we will cater to Human Development sectors including Education, Healthcare and Family and Social Development. Under the Progress Mandate, we will alleviate poverty in the short-term by offering safety nets to our most vulnerable while implementing long-term poverty eradication policies. We will also develop a healthy and highly skilled workforce that will drive our national growth and development objectives. Furthermore, under this mandate, we will protect the vulnerable and foster equity and social inclusiveness in access to opportunities.
“The Prosperity Mandate will cater to our policy thrust on Economic Management and Infrastructure Delivery. We will achieve the Prosperity Mandate by launching the Nigerian Geoeconomics Development Plan (N-GDP) on day one of my inauguration as president. The N-GDP is a new way of looking at our GDP; therefore, you would be right to refer to it as the New GDP. Guided by the N-GDP, we will rebuild Nigeria’s economy around six competitive geoeconomic zones, triple Nigeria’s GDP to $1.5 trillion by 2030, and industrialise Nigeria around the hub-and-spoke model of industrialisation. This will see the emergence of industrial cities in each geoeconomic zone made of several industrial clusters. The industrial clusters will in turn be linked to feeder hubs and enterprise zones in the respective regions. The N-GDP will guide our policies, institutions, and investments across various sectors including Solid Minerals, Agriculture, Manufacturing, and SMEs.
“The Possibilities Mandate will cater to our policy thrust in Science, Technology and Innovation; Foreign Policy; Sustainability; and Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Sports (ACETS). The objectives of the Possibilities Mandate include Nigeria’s leapfrogging as a leader in the fourth industrial revolution as well as our emergence as a global hub of creative and cultural industries. It also includes projecting the elements of Nigeria’s national power in defence of our national interest, protecting Nigerian citizens across the globe, and providing leadership on the African continent.”
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