Fellow Nigerians, today, May 29, 2023, on this great occasion of my inauguration as People’s President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I bring to you comradely and revolutionary greetings from me, Omoyele Sowore, your legitimately elected People’s President.
As I promised to you last December, I did not invite outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari to my inauguration today as the President. The vigilant masses who are guarding the gate of this ceremony have been instructed not to allow him or any of his lackeys, including his Vice President, ministers, advisers, assistants, Inspector General of Police, military service chiefs or any other officials to enter this venue for this great occasion.
Even though the cowardly INEC has refused to give me my Certificate of Return despite the overwhelming votes that Nigerian youths, students, farmers, labourers, petty traders and market women cast for me in last February’s election, we are going ahead with this great inauguration in obedience to the mandate granted to me by the Nigerian people. The cowardly Federal Capital Territory Ministry refused to allow us to stage this event at Eagle Square and instead gave the venue to an interloper who they are inaugurating today as so-called president. Despite many reminders sent to him, the Inspector General of Police has also refused to provide to me the security details for me to enter State House and assume duty as the legitimate president. One of his aides told me that even if the police provide me with security cover, the Guards Brigade has been instructed not to allow me past the gate. That is why we are holding this ceremony in this park. As you can see, it is well attended by Nigerian people, even though the money-minded TV stations NTA, Arise, AIT, Channels and TVC have refused to broadcast it live. They asked us to pay millions of Naira but we refused because this is a people’s occasion.
Today, on this great occasion, I must roll out to you some of the revolutionary programs that my Administration will begin to implement from Day One. The conversion of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] to NNPC Limited is hereby revoked. The anti-people plan to end petroleum subsidy is hereby revoked and Nigerians will continue to enjoy subsidy on their God-given natural wealth. Subsidy will be re-imposed on the cost of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas immediately. Similarly, the increase in electricity tariff as well as the recent increase in the cost of Third Party vehicle insurance are hereby revoked and there is a return to status quo ante.
Collection of stamp duty is hereby abolished. Bankers will never again be allowed to profit from the sweat of the masses. VAT on all goods and services is hereby reduced to 1%. We will also undertake a review of all Vatable goods and services and will remove VAT from all goods and services that are highly patronised by poor Nigerians.
Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, is hereby renamed Bureau of Nationalisation, BON. All the criminal sale of government assets that took place since the 1980s is hereby revoked. BON is hereby ordered to reclaim all privatised national assets, including power generation and distribution companies that ruling class elements sold to themselves. After that, BON is hereby directed to go ahead and nationalise Dangote Refinery, BUA, MTN, Glo, Airtel, Air Peace, Max Air, all the big banks, all major petrol distribution companies and Innoson in order to end the exploitation of Nigerians by bourgeois elements.
No Work No Pay policy is hereby abolished. ASUU members will be paid the backlog of their salaries, with interest. Similarly, our Administration will exceed the 25% budget spending on Education recommended by the United Nations. We will raise it to 30%. All other targets set by the United Nations for spending on health, welfare, housing and policing will be exceeded by our Administration.
Collection of toll on all Federal highways and bridges is hereby abolished. Nigerians must not pay for any road that is built with their own resources. Lekki Tollgate, where heroes of EndSARS protest were massacred, has been renamed Heroes’ Gate. The outgoing government’s claim that no one was massacred at the Lekki Tollgate will be exposed through another, impartial and international Commission of Enquiry that will soon be set up to probe the events of that day. In addition, millions of naira will be paid as reparation to the family of every patriot who died or was injured in the EndSARS protest. Yours sincerely, who was also injured during the protests, will however forsake my own right as a patriotic contribution to the People’s Treasury. Compensation will however not be paid to the policemen who died during the protests because they died in the service of the criminal state.
Debt repayment on Nigeria’s internal and external debt is hereby suspended pending a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into how it accumulated. Anyone who is found to have a hand in the re-enslaving of Nigeria through the accumulation of domestic and foreign debt will be brought to book. The entire financial sector will be probed and overhauled. The redesigned naira notes will be made to exist as legal tender side by side with the old notes with no terminal date, and will only be removed from circulation when they enter the banking system. All limits placed on the withdrawal of their money in cash by Nigerians are hereby abolished. Central Bank is hereby ordered to add on every naira note the old logo of “Promise to pay on demand the sum of …” Any banker that refuses to pay to a customer any amount of money from his account will have committed a criminal offense punishable with imprisonment.
A General Amnesty is hereby declared for bandits, Boko Haram, IPOB, kidnappers, Yoruba Nation agitators, secret cultists, child rapists and Yahoo Boys. They should lay down their arms or their criminal tools and in return, my Administration will create an Office of General Amnesty which will rehabilitate them, teach them a legitimate trade and provide them with the start-up capital to live a decent and peaceful life.
As for the Nigerian media, which did not support us during our long struggle to achieve this glorious day but instead gave every attention to moneybag politicians and through false opinion polls, immediate steps will be taken to reorient it in line with true professionalism. Henceforth, the Professional Code of Ethics of Sahara Reporters must be adopted by Nigeria Union of Journalists [NUJ], Nigeria Guild of Editors [NGE] and Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN. Once an Editor determines that a story is in the interest of the masses, he should publish it without wasting his time in trying to establish whether it is true or in so-called balancing the story. The masses must be told what they want to hear about the criminal deeds of the ruling class, without wasting time on so-called verification and balancing.
It was a disgrace that the Super Eagles failed to qualify for Qatar 2022. The Coach and all his assistants are hereby sacked. We must qualify for USA-Canada-Mexico 2026 and equal Morocco’s feat by reaching the semi-finals.
My Administration will do away with the four-year, wasteful Amendment to the 1999 Constitution. Instead, the Constitution will be suspended pending a general overhaul. Political leaders, civil servants and security officers will no longer swear to uphold it until a People’s Constitution is put in place.
Within the first one month of my Administration, I will establish a National Bureau of Restructuring to undertake a wholesale restructuring of the Nigerian Federation. The 36 states will be abolished and will be replaced by a Federation of Ethnic States, each of which will control its own resources. The Exclusive Legislative List in the Constitution will be revised and minimised, to give Federal Government exclusive control of only a few items. We will review the 1976 Aguda Panel report and determine whether Abuja should remain the Capital of Nigeria, or whether several other cities should be designated Co-Capital. As in South Africa, the National Assembly and the Federal Secretariat do not have to be in the same city.
You will have noticed the absence of Foreign Ambassadors in Nigeria, including African ones, from this event. They were all invited but as usual, they chose to attend the “inauguration” of an interloper at Eagles Square. For this criminal act, my Administration will review our relationship with all the countries whose ambassadors refused to attend this people’s occasion, until they show remorse and grant us full recognition.
Some unpatriotic Nigerians who listen to this Inaugural Address will say that it is populist and that it is a recipe for anarchy. I hereby place a curse on anyone who says or even thinks so. My governance program is not anarchistic but a well thought out, well-reasoned program to save the Nigerian people from the trauma that they experienced under many years of bourgeois rule. It will uplift this country and propel us into the First World in no distant future.
In conclusion, I wish to once again urge the Police Inspector General to live up to his duty and accord me with the security detail I need to assume office and discharge my duties to the people efficiently. As Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Armed Forces, I hereby command the security agencies not to block my entry into Aso Rock to assume duty. If they try to do so, they will face the wrath of the people.
Once more, revolutionary greetings from the People’s President of the New Federal Republic of Nigeria!!
