The youngest presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Nicholas Felix, says now is the time for the youth to take charge of governance in the country.
Felix, a 40 year-old US-based pastor, said this at an interactive session with youth leaders and Nigerian students organised by the Committee of Youth on Mobilisation and Sensitization (CYMS) on Friday in Abuja.
He said his conviction and understanding of the challenges of Nigeria prompted him to take another shot at presidential contest come 2023.
He said that the nation’s challenges were accountable with the right ideas and political will, saying that absence of industries were responsible for Nigeria’s economic woes.
On tackling corruption, Felix promised to grant 12 months window to those that had stolen public funds to return it and invest in the economy so that more money could be pumped into the economy.
On insecurity, he said the numerical strength of the Nigeria police personnel was abysmally low to secure the vast population of over 200 million.
The presidential aspirant said he would ensure that more personnel be recruited to ensure there were police officers on every street in the country if elected president of Nigeria.
On the economy, he said that he would ensure that industries were built in every state of the federation and ensure easy access to finance by the citizens to engage in businesses.
He, however, challenged the students to also do their part in ensuring that university lecturers do not embark on strikes, saying education would be given utmost priority.
On the choice of APC, Felix said he believed that joining the big political parties was the best way to take power from the older generation.
He dismissed insinuation that he could be sponsored by some politicians for strategic reasons, saying that he ran a multi million dollar business in the United States of America (USA).
“They say politics is dirty but you don’t expect dirty people to clean up the system and that is why those with clean hands must get involved,” he said.
The Director General of CYMS, Mr Obinna Nwaka, said the interactive session was part of the group’s pre-election activities with a view to promote the aspiration of the young aspirants.
Nwaka said that Nicholas had exhibited the needed capacity to run the highest office and bring the much needed change that the citizens were clamouring for.
He said the event was an opportunity for the youths to have one-on-one interface with the youngest presidential aspirant in all the political parties in Nigeria.
According to him, it is a an organised platform where political aspirants irrespective of political parties are giving opportunity to interact with electorates before both primaries or general elections.
He said that the presidential aspirant on the platform of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) would also be feature on the interactive programme.
