The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 Bayelsa state governorship election, Timipre Sylva, has declared that Nigeria now has a President who knows the nitty gritty of the nation’s economy in Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Quest Times reports that Sylva was the immediate past Minister of Petroleum (State) under the Muhamamadu Buhari-led administration in which Nigeria recorded two recessions during his presidency from 2015-2023.
Sylva, who spoke with newsmen Tuesday after meeting with President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, said the nation is undergoing a positive economic turnaround with the recent steps taken by the President.
His words: “I believe that we are on the verge of an economic turnaround in this country, and going by the American parlance: “Is the economy, stupid?”
“We need a president who understands the economy and I believe that we have one now. That’s really part of what we discussed.”
The ruling All Progressives Congress candidate in the November 2023 governorship poll in Bayelsa state also applauded the removal of fuel subsidy by President Tinubu upon his inauguration on May 29, 2023.
According to him: “It was an opportunity to commend Mr. President for the great job he’s doing. I know that for a long time, every administration, and every government in Nigeria has been trying to remove the fuel subsidy.
We attempted even during our time. And it was actually part of the campaign of every presidential election in the previous election in the past election.
“But for Mr. President to have achieved this feat on the first day of his presidency, it’s quite commendable. We’ve seen a lot happening in the monetary policy sector. We also commend him for what you’re doing.
I thought it was important that some of us will see him and let him know the great things is doing. For the first time in Nigeria, states and federal government are to share N1.9 trillion. It is unprecedented”.
Sylva used the forum to unfold his six-point agenda for Bayelsa declaring his readiness to retake the governorship seat said: “We are set to take over Bayelsa, I came to inform Mr. President and take advice from him.
He further explained that “I have been a governor, and I’ve been part of the politics of Bayelsa from inception. So I know Bayelsa and Bayelsa knows me.
“You know also in 2019 we won the election. The Governor that is there today is a Governor that won only two local governments in that election. But unfortunately, you know what happened.
“Even previously in 2015, we won the election. The Southern Ijaw results were canceled and were redone and of course, you know what took place at a time.
“So we are fully aground. APC is the party on the ground in Bayelsa State. And I can assure you that we can do it again and we will do it again.”
On his six-point agenda, Sylva explained: “First point of the agenda is human capital development including education, which is very important. We need to really develop the capacity of our people.
“The second point of the agenda is infrastructure. We really need it in Bayelsa State.
“Third point of the agenda is to develop an economy for Bayelsa. And for Bayelsa, we believe that the economy that can easily be developed is a gas economy. Because we are sitting on the highest deposit of gas in Nigeria.
“Fourth point in the agenda is agriculture and in agriculture, we are not going to also be trying everything, we’re going to concentrate on rice production. As you know, rice goes well in the swamps and Bayelsa has a lot of swamps as you know.
“We are definitely going to become the biggest rice producer in Nigeria because we have that comparative advantage. And then of course, in agriculture, we’re looking at also fishery.
“The fifth point of the agenda will be to stabilize power because you know that if you want to grow an economy you need to stabilize power. We must stabilize power in Bayelsa working with the federal government and we have the gas to fire the power sector.
“Then, the six point of the agenda is to ensure that there is security. So is this six-point agenda. We’re going to hit the ground running and I can assure you that linking up with the great things that are going to be achieved from the federal side and with what you can see, I believe that the glory days of Bayelsa is just around the corner, just like the glory days of Nigeria, also around the corner.”
