Makinde pledges to tackle high interest rates, improve access to long-term financing

Presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, yesterday, said thatPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu is incompetent and does not have the energy to rule the country, asking him to retire and rest.

Obi made the statement in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, during a town hall meeting.

He insisted that the President does not have the energy and competence to run the country and therefore should go home and rest. Obi noted that the person who can’t spend 36 days to go round the states of the federation to campaign for next year’s general election is not fit to rule the country.

He stressed that Tinubu has stayed over 260 days out of the country but can’t spend 36 days to go round the states of the federation to campaign, claiming that governance also needs his attention.

MEANWHILE, the Presidential Candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Governor Seyi Makinde, of Oyo State, has said he would tackle high interest rates and improve access to long-term financing if elected as president next year.

He stated that this would be part of efforts to boost industrialisation, expand businesses and create jobs in the South-East.

Makinde, who spoke at a town hall meeting with stakeholders from the region, said the South-East’s economic potential extended beyond trading to manufacturing, which he identified as critical to creating jobs and lifting Nigerians out of poverty.

The Oyo State governor added that businesses could not expand production and employ millions of people when interest rates remain high and long-term credit facilities are difficult to access.

He said his administration would create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive across the country, with particular attention to addressing the constraints limiting economic growth.

“Yes, trading is something this zone is synonymous with, but so is manufacturing. If you go to Onitsha and Nnewi, you will discover that the South-East is not just about trading; manufacturing is also thriving here.”

“You cannot expand manufacturing and employ millions of people when interest rates are at 25 per cent and long-term financing facilities are unavailable. These are two challenges we will tackle decisively,” he said.

Makinde said his proposed economic reforms would move Nigeria away from dependence on the sharing of federal allocations towards production, industrial expansion and the creation of a larger economic base.

He said the government had a responsibility to establish conditions that would allow entrepreneurs and manufacturers to expand their operations, employ more people and contribute to national development.