The Vice Presidential candidates of the Africa Democratic Party (ADC), National Conscience Party (NCP) and United Democratic Party (UDP) on Sunday squared up in the second round of the presidential debate. Mrs Obianuju Murphy-Uzohue of ADC, Ibrahim Mohammed of NCP and UDP’s Haruna Adamu clashed on security, corruption, economic development and housing, among others.
On security, the three candidates were on common ground on the need for training, provision of modern military hardware and adequate welfare packages to members of the Armed Forces....... However, UDP’s Adamu advocated the relocation of all military barracks to the country’s borders for effective border policing and control to check incursion of insurgents into the country. Adamu argued that the military had no business in internal security operations, saying his party would properly fund, train and equip the police and civil defence corps for that. Mrs Murphy-Uzohue said an ADC-run government would invest heavily on intelligence gathering and welfare programmes for members of the armed forces and their families. She added that the federal government under ADC would not shy away from seeking help from neighbouring countries and western powers to tackle terrorism. Mohammed of NCP said his party’s government would go beyond equipping and training, by tackling the country’s social and economic problems, which he said were the root causes of insurgency. He added that an NCP government, if elected, would set up a security committee that would coordinate the security programmes of the three tiers of government to ensure synergy and avoid duplication. On corruption, the three candidates also said that the federal government, under their parties, would adopt a policy of zero tolerance on the menace. ADC’s Murphy-Uzohue said her party would establish special courts on corruption for speedy trial of corrupt individuals. She argued that the current situation where corruption-related cases drag on for years in the regular courts was encouraging corrupt individuals to carry on. On his part, Mohammed of NCP said his party would confront corruption through what he termed the “3Es”; that is, enlightenment, example and empowerment/enforcement. He said an NCP-led government would embark on aggressive public enlightenment on the negative effects of corruption, while its officials would lead by example in all tiers and arms of government. At the same time, Mohammed said the federal government under his party would empower all the anti-graft agencies by strengthening all existing laws and adequately funding and equipping them to do their job. UDP’s Adamu described corrupt Nigerians as stubborn people that need to be handled with “iron hand” for them to change. He said a UDP-led government would go tough on corrupt individuals to serve as deterrent to others. On what their parties would do to strengthen the Naira in the face of falling global oil prices, the three candidates agreed on the need for economic diversification. Adamu said a UDP government would focus on the development of the agriculture sector through provision of inputs and soft loans to farmers nationwide. He said the federal government under UDP would also streamline the activities of all relevant agencies like the River Basin Development Authority, among others, for proper coordination and more impact. An ADC government, according to Murphy-Uzohue, would massively invest in the mining, technological, culture and tourism, sport and entertainment sectors. She argued that the emphasis on the oil sector by successive administrations had “numbed these critical areas”, with huge potential for wealth generation and job creation besides revenue earning. NCP’s Mohammed said his party would tackle the challenge by vigorously pursuing a “large scale agriculture policy” that would include provision of incentives and subsidised inputs to farmers. He added that NCP would also develop the mining and SME sectors, discourage importation and boost exportation of locally made goods as well as encourage local refining of crude oil .
Source: Vanguard
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