Christopher Imumolen, the Accord Party’s presidential candidate, promised to prioritise education when elected president of Nigeria in 2023, revealing that he sponsors up to 200 students in each of the 36 states.

Mr Imumolen made the pledge during his interactive session with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.

“The problem of education is a big one. I will prioritise education. I will be dedicating nothing less than 20 per cent of our budget just to education. As it is today, we have about just 6.5 per cent of our budget for education in a country that has over 18.5 million people out of school,” the presidential hopeful noted.

He added, “We are in a country where 97.5 million Nigerians live in poverty. We are still a third-world nation, and education must be given priority. I will ensure that Nigerians have education at a very subsidised rate and, if possible, free from primary to secondary school.”

Mr Imumolen added that he was already doing that privately to show his commitment to education.

“Right in this hall, those that came with me are not politicians but students that have benefited from my scholarship,” claimed the Accord Party candidate. “There is no state in Nigeria where I don’t have up (to) 200 students on scholarships being sponsored from my personal money.”

Mr Imumolen also stated that his emergence as president in 2023 would breathe a fresh air of opportunities for Nigerians, especially the youth.

“It is time for the country to hand over its economy to young and energetic youths to manage like Canada and other developed countries. We need young and energetic youth who will work hard to bring back the glory of the country,” added the presidential flag bearer.

On a policy proposal by CAN for presidential candidates, Imumolen said that the proposed policy document by the religious group was just a reflection of his manifesto.

“One of the ways to generate wealth is to help states to identify and harness their resources and help them to trade internationally. Do you know that we have more than 4,000 mineral resources in Nigeria yet to be harnessed? We are only focusing on crude oil,” the Accord Party candidate further stressed. “We are only focusing on easy things.”

(NAN)