Ahead of the 2027 Presidential election campaigns, Presidential Candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Architect Dr Peter Agada, has admonished other candidates not to see the Presidential Villa as a place for social gatherings.
Dr. Agada further highlighted that the Villa should be seen as a revered place, especially now that insecurity problems are prominent and Ebola disease is resurging.
Recall that the AAC presidential candidate, while speaking at the Institute of Chartered Accountants Annual Conference, announced that his party has requested to use the Presidential Villa for a campaign kickoff.
Dr. Agada, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Sun, highlighted that the Presidential Villa may have become an unemployment office for failed politicians.
“But just vacating the Villa office for politicians is not enough. We must ask: Where were their contact offices before they wanted the Villa job?
“I support Sowore’s call, but I go further; I agree with him that the Presidential Villa has become an unemployment place for failed politicians. I’m saying that the Presidential Villa is a highly respected place for the Nigerian Presidency and should not be used for social gatherings. It is a high-security area that should be cordoned off for government activities. “Not to talk of today, in the resurgence of the Ebola virus.”
“The true test of a Presidential candidate is not the use of Aso Villa; it is his current office. Any man who wants to rule 200 million Nigerians must show us, first of all
Your current office where you go to work by 8 a.m. every day. Not a rented campaign office. Your real office that pays a salary.
Your current place of residence, whether you pay for it or built it yourself. Not a hotel.
He questions the contact address of the office where Nigerians should visit. “Do your flag-off and press conference take place from which office? Let Nigerians see the table, the staff, the files where you work.
If you cannot show your current office and current residence, it means you have no job.
“You are unemployed. Villa is your only job application each election year.
That is where they steal Nigeria’s money because they have nowhere to return to after Villa.
Agada further clarified, “For your information, my office is Cyrus Acoustics Group Ltd, Abuja and Lagos Acoustics, Architecture & C4isr Site Engineering firm with a 30-year record. The company is remarkably the number one and leading Acoustic company in Africa, with a staff of 47. We design and build roads, estates, and boreholes. Our address is permanently at Plot C22, Cyrus Group Drive, Katampe Extension, Abuja. Come and visit any day by 8 a.m.; I am on site.
My residence is in Jasmine Estate, Abuja. I pay for it from engineering work, not politics.”
He said, “We build: Acoustics ( Management of the electromagnetic spectrum for large spaces), lighting, sound, HVAC
We design C4ISR: military-grade Command, Control, Communications, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance System ( SCADA) types and
We design and build infrastructure, logistics, and hospitality as side capacities; that’s our profession.”
Meanwhile, the YPP Presidential Candidate, for the avoidance of doubt, announced, “My flag-off for the YPP Presidential Campaign will be done from my construction yard, not from Sheraton or Villa. My press conference will be done from my site office with a helmet on the table.
“I challenge other candidates to do the same. Show us your office. Show us where you work today.”
Consequently, Agada challenged the electorate that before they cast a vote for any candidate, they should ask him or her to show documents to verify their capacity and responsiveness: Audited Accounts of his Company for the last 3 years: and two his or her project compendium.
“If you cannot manage a ₦500 million turnover company with profit and loss, audited by an external auditor, you cannot manage a ₦54 trillion national budget. Show us your balance sheet. Show us tax clearance. Where did your money come from?
Company Project Compendium that resembles Presidential work:
People should be able to ask, “Show us one project your company has done that is close to what you want to do as President. If you want to build roads for Nigeria, show us a 1 km road you built with your money. If you want to give water, show us a borehole you built. If you want to create jobs, show us 10 people you employ and pay.”
He, however, maintained that the Presidency is not a theatre. It is project management of 8,809 Wards.
“My office Headquarters building and surrounding infrastructure- high-tension cables and transformers, Solar System lights, the 100k-seater Dunamis & Citadel + Trinity Tower Mega Auditoriums, and SCMP world’s largest steelwork cat ladder (3 km in the air), 30 m off the ground
What have other candidates, including built, except press statements?
The YPP Presidential candidate further highlighted that politicians will not live in the Villa as a palace.
“I have said it time and again, I shall run a lean government. And I will use the Villa as a temporary site office for 4 years to build Nigeria, then return to my engineering office.
Villa is not a reward for unemployment. The Villa is a site office for national construction.
Any candidate who has no office today has no business looking for a villa tomorrow.
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