President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Sokoto restated his avowed commitment not to steal from the public treasury nor allow others to do so.
Buhari reassured Nigerians that he would never steal from their collective patrimony and would therefore not allow anybody to steal the future of the country.
The president spoke at the Giginya Stadium, venue of his re-election campaign in Sokoto yesterday, stressing that Nigerians would attest to the fact that his administration had done very well in the management of public funds.
According to him, while campaigning for votes in 2015, his empahasis was on insecurity, economy and the fight against corruption, which he declared the federal government under him, had performed well.
Bujari said: “When I came to Sokoto in 2015 to ask for your support, I made three promises: security, fight against corruption and repositioning of the economy.
“By the grace of Allah, you are our witnesses today. We are doing our best. Ask the people of Maiduguri, we have defeated Boko Haram. Our economy has improved with God on our side. Our farmers are happy about the economy. We provided fertilisers at subsidised rates to all our farmers and they got it. We pray that God should help us do more this year,” he said.
On his successes in the fight against corruption, Buhari noted that a lot had been achieved, adding that his administration remained committed to the fight against the vice.
“In the fight against corruption, our government is trying its best. And we will continue to fight against corruption. If we find anybody that has accumulated ill-gotten wealth, we will punish such a person. My promise to Nigerians is that, I will not steal and will not allow others steal their future,” he said
Earlier, the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said that the party was not in any way ready to rig the forthcoming general elections contrary to the false alarm continually raised by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Oshiomhole, who insisted that PDP was jittery over elections because this was the first time they would go for an election without the machinery of rigging, added that the APC believes in free, fair and credible polls.
PMB Promises To Extend Railway To Kebbi
While in Kebbi State, President Buhari promised the people that his administration would extend railway project from Gusau to the state.
Buhari made the promise in Birnin Kebbi during his remarks at the 2019 APC Kebbi State chapter presidential campaign rally yesterday.
He said that his administration would ensure that the railway project which commenced from Gusau in Zamfara State is extended to Sokoto and Kebbi States.
“My administration will extend the railway project to Kebbi State which will come from Gusau to Sokoto and finally Kebbi State,” he said.
Buhari thanked people of Kebbi State for their unflinching support for his administration and the giant strides the state recorded in agriculture, which according to him, had saved the country from the importation of foreign rice.
The president also reiterated his resolve to continue to fight corruption and recover looted fund for Nigeria’s development.
Earlier in his remarks, Governor Abubakar Bagudu thanked the president for what he described as inspirational leadership he is offering Nigerians.
He said the APC in Kebbi is a united party with all the major political figures under its fold.
APC Supporters Fill Kebbi 20,000 Capacity Stadium
The 20,000-seat capacity Haliru Abdul Stadium in Birnin Kebbi, venue of the rally was filled with APC supporters who thronged the area to catch a glimpse of Buhari.
The party supporters from the 21 local government areas of the state dressed in APC colours waved and shouted “Sai Baba Buhari’’ as Buhari made his speech.
Buhari arrived in Kebbi yesterday accompanied by top echelons of the party at the national and state levels.
School children holding and waving flags lined up at the major streets in the state capital to welcome Buhari to Kebbi.
2 Die In Sokoto APC Presidential Campaign
Meanwhile, two persons lost their lives yesterday at the APC presidential rally in Sokoto State.
One of the deceased, a 15-year-old boy, allegedly died of suffocation. Sources said that he slumped and died as the mammoth crowd pressed to have the glimpses of the president.
The second victim was an aged woman who was knocked down by a vehicle within the vicinity of the rally.
The public relations officer of the Sokoto State National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Operation Office, Abu-Bilal Baba-Ali, said that the two were certified dead after they were rushed to the nearest hospital.
PMB Assents To Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities Bill
Outside the campaign box, President Buhari yesterday assented to the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018.
In a statement issued by the senior special assistant to the president on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, he explained that the Act prohibits all forms of discrimination on ground of disability and imposes a fine of N1million on corporate bodies and N100,000 on individuals or a term of six months imprisonment for violation concurrently.
It also guarantees the right to maintain civil action for damage by the persons injured against any defaulter.
Enang said that the bill provides for a five-year transitional period within which public buildings, structures or automobiles are to be modified to be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including those on wheelchairs.
He said the Act also provides that ‘’before erecting any public structure, its plan shall be scrutinised by the relevant authorities to ensure that the plan conforms with the building code.
“A government or government agency, body or individual responsible for the approval of building plans shall not approve the plan of a public building if the plan does not make provision for accessibility facilities in line with the building code.
“An officer who approves or directs the approval of a building plan that contravenes the building code, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of at least N1 million or a term of imprisonment of two years or both.’’
Enang added that discrimination is prohibited in public transportation facilities and service providers are to make provision for the physically, visually and hearing- impaired and all persons howsoever challenged. This applies to seaports, railways and airport facilities.
“The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities is also established with executive secretary as the head,” he said
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