Business Leaders Endorse Jonathan

The Corporate Forum, a group of Nigeria’s eminent business leaders, on Monday, formally endorsed the candidature of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for a second tenure. In Bauchi State, the president was assured of 100 percent vote next Saturday.

Giving the endorsement at a press conference held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, the business leaders said they took the decision after considering the Jonathan administration’s transformative efforts in repositioning the economy.
President Jonathan had in January this year held an interactive session with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in the state.
The chairman of the Corporate Forum, Otunba Funsho Lawal, who addressed the conference, disclosed that the body had observed the various achievements of the administration and came to the conclusion that it must be supported so that the good projects that he started would continue.
“We have resolved to ask this administration to do more in order to consolidate on the gains made and in asking them to do more, we therefore endorse President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for another four years,” Lawal said.
He explained that the Strategy Research Group (SRG), a unit of Corporate Forum, had been engaged in analysing data from the government and pushing it out to the public as well as the corporate community through various print and online publications on their website.
Earlier, Ambassador Greg Ozumba Mbadiwe, who also attended the press conference, noted that the January interactive session with the president was attended by major business leaders, including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Oba Otudeko and other industry captains.
Mbadiwe said that the interaction convinced the members that the present administration deserved a second term to complete the transformation and diversification of the country’s sources of income and revenue.
Another member of the body, Mr. Francis Kudayah, stated that the Corporate Forum was endorsing the President on the strength of the administration’s achievements, adding: “You need a focused and strategic government to succeed in making these kinds of transformation in a very short period.”
Kudayah continued: “We have seen the impact in fiscal management reforms; financial sector reforms; pension reforms; local content reforms; job creation reforms;
manufacturing reforms;
agriculture reforms; housing reforms;
aviation sector reforms;
ports and harbour reforms; water and sanitation sector reforms;
information and technology reforms;
human capital reforms and education reforms”.
Other sectors he mentioned include:
social development (women and youth empowerment);
power reforms; trade and industry reforms; new solid minerals policy; health sector reforms; the freedom of information Act and the convening of the National Conference.
According to Kudayah, the score card of the transformation virtually cuts across all sectors of the economy, stressing that the railway sector for example has witnessed a boost such that there is an increase from one million to five million passengers with the introduction of more trains and expanded routes linking various states and ports in the country.
He noted that the cumulative effect of these reforms has resulted in positioning Nigeria as the number one economy on the continent, by a wide margin; one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the number one destination for foreign direct investments in Africa.
“All these reforms are verifiable and some of them endorsed by international financial institutions and global rating agencies,” he said. In his remarks, the Director General of NIIA, Prof Bola Akinterinwa, commended the Corporate Forum for helping the electorate in distinguishing between the act of voting and having a reason to vote.
“The Corporate Forum is saying that we endorse and are also giving reasons that clearly show that with President Jonathan, we are very consciously advancing democracy. The critical point now is to take the better choice. Without mincing words, we should commend the Corporate Forum for giving us these research materials to ponder on,” he said. The President was assured of 100 per cent vote in Bauchi state.
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Ahmadu A. Muazu gave the assurance on Monday during a PDP North- east stakeholders meeting held at the multi-purpose hall in Bauchi State. Muazu described the president as a visionary leader who has all the needed qualities to move the country forward. He said that the President has transformed various sectors of the economy that were hitherto dead.
He called on the electorate to vote for the PDP in order to enjoy positive change. On education, the National Chairman noted that of the six states in the North east, only the four PDP states have both state and federal universities. He therefore called on the electorate in Borno and Yobe states to vote for the PDP to continue enjoying the dividends of democracy. The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to bringing to an end, the incessant strikes by doctors in the country. He pledged to implement policies that will improved the wellbeing of doctors.
Jonathan stated this while he was commissioning a newly constructed 300-bed Specialist Hospital in the state. He said: “The present administration is doing everything possible to create a conducive working environment where a professional Neurologist should be able to work anywhere in the country.”
He also commended Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda for embarking on such a giant project that had direct bearing on the people in the state. Jonathan described the PDP as a party that had been delivering dividends of democracy to the electorate in the country.