2023: Tinubu promises to create industrial hubs in Anambra

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has promised to address the recurring erosion menace in Anambra State if elected Nigeria’s president in 2023.

Mr Tinubu spoke on Tuesday during the APC presidential campaign rally in Awka.

The APC candidate said he would tackle the problem of erosion in the state the same way he “tamed” the Atlantic Ocean surge in Lagos State, where he served as governor between 1999 and 2007.

“You know me, the Lagos boy. I tamed the Atlantic Ocean. The same way, we will check erosion in Anambra,” he said.

Anambra, more than other states in the South-east, has been bedevilled by erosion menace. The state governor, Charles Soludo, has repeatedly described the state as “the erosion capital of Nigeria.”

Creating jobs, industrial hubs

Mr Tinubu also promised to create massive jobs for teeming unemployed youths in Anambra by creating industries in the state.

“I’m here today to publicise the promise of development we made, the exploration and industrialisation Anambra is known for,” he said.

“We’ll make the value of your property one thousand times your investment. We’ll create jobs for our youth, industrialise and make the state one of the economic centres. You will have industrial hubs,” Mr Tinubu stated.

‘Vote for me like you voted Soludo’

The former governor of Lagos State, during the rally in Anambra, appealed to residents of the state to vote for him because their governor, Mr Soludo, was not contesting for president in 2023.

“Charles Soludo, your son is not contesting with me or against me,” Mr Tinubu told the crowd of Igbos at the rally.

“He’s still my friend. I salute his vision. He’s a brilliant man. He has the brain. He is a thinker. He knows the way. We will work together inclusively,” the APC candidate said of Mr Soludo.

“When I become the president, Soludo will be one of those that will advise us; who will bring prosperity back to you,” he added.

Mr Tinubu urged the people to vote for him in 2023 the same way they voted for Mr Soludo as governor.

“So, the way you voted for Soludo is the way you’ll vote for Bola Tinubu,” he said.

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Mr Soludo was overwhelmingly voted for during the 2021 governorship election in the state.

The Anambra governor won in 19 of the 21 local government areas in the state, after polling 112, 229 votes to defeat his closest rival, Valentine Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party.

‘Vote for me because I put your son in govt’

The former governor told the people that they should vote for him because he (Tinubu) put an Igbo man from the state in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari without considering his tribe and religion.

“Whether you read newspapers or not; whether you watch television or not. I brought your son (and) made him my friend and put him in government. I didn’t say he’s not a Muslim. (He’s) Ben Akabueze. He’s today from Lagos Economic Planning and Budget. He is the national economic adviser to Buhari.,” Mr Tinubu said.

Mr Akabueze, a pastor, was first appointed as a Special Adviser Planning to Mr Buhari on 15 February 2016, and later redeployed and appointed as Director-General (DG) of Budget Office of the Federation on 10 June 2016.

READ AlSO: Akwa Ibom spends N10 billion on erosion control – Official

He was earlier appointed in 2007 as the commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget by Lagos State Government. He held the position till 2015.

In May 2020, Mr Buhari announced the extension of Mr Akabueze’s appointment as DG of the budget office. With the extension, his tenure as the DG will lapse by 10 June 2024.