National chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Olu Falae, and many other notable leaders of the party were absent on Saturday at the launch of the presidential campaign of Jerry Gana.
Mr Gana, the party’s legally recognised presidential candidate, flagged-off his campaign with a 25-page policy document which he tagged SWIFT in Abuja.
SWIFT stands for: Security re-engineering; Wealth creation; Infrastructure excellence and power supply; Fight against corruption and indiscipline; and Technology, Education, and human development.
Mr Falae had in a statement on Friday explained that he would not be attending the launch as is the usual tradition because the SDP had challenged the court judgement which installed Gana.
Reading out his policy document, Gana promised to restructure Nigeria along political, social and economic lines, covering the structural, geographic, governmental and financial systems to ensure fairness, equity, and justice.
The former information minister also promised to create jobs and boost the economy by building a factory in each of the 774 local government areas in the country.
“We will identify and promote the production of highly demanded cash crops for exports thereby creating wealth for producers.
“We will establish one factory in each of the 774 local government areas based on local resources and competitive advantage- ‘Every LGA Counts Initiative.’
“Develop the country’s rich solid mineral resources across the federation-‘Every State Counts Initiative,’” Gana said.
In the area of infrastructure, Gana promised that his government would partner with the private sector to build first-class superhighways connecting major cities such as Lagos and Abuja.
The former minister promised to review the law establishing the National Youth Service Corps in such a way that Nigerians in the Diaspora who study professional courses are encouraged to return home.
