The Senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, Smart Adeyemi, says the legislative experiences of President Bola Tinubu and his Vice, Kashim Shettima, will help them perform excellently.

Adeyemi, who was also an All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant in the Kogi governorship election, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.

According to the senator, once somebody has been in the Senate, that person cannot afford to fail.

“This is the first time we are having field politicians controlling the executive arm of government.

“President Bola Tinubu, a former senator; Vice-President Kashim Shettima, a former senator, and even the First Lady, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu is a senator.

“If you look at the states that are governed by former senators you will see outstanding performance; like Hope Uzodubma of Imo State.

“In the Senate, you are exposed to the needs and aspirations of Nigerians, ” he said.

Adeyemi said that Tinubu’s government would resurrect so many moribund economic and productive endeavours in the country and create opportunities for real economic development.

“Some of us who are fanatical about Tinubu, it is because we are sure of his track record.

“He will not approach you based on your ethnicity or religion, he considers the quality of your thought, and how your mind works.

“Look at Lagos today, he gave them the master plan of socio-economic development. We are not in doubt that there is going to be a turnaround under this government,” he said.

He said that the president was capable of initiating economic policies that would increase productivity and strengthen the Naira.

“We are confident that he is going to strengthen the Naira; he is going to strengthen productivity that will enhance the strength of the currency.

“He is going to create wealth, he will create job opportunities; you know the number of agencies he created as governor of Lagos?

“These are the things making Lagos excel today.

He said that the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, had a similar track record through his performance as governor of Borno.

“Shettima is a former banker; and Agric/Economist by training. He is the person who revamped agriculture in Borno.

“We need to look inwards for productivity and one of the gifts of God to Nigeria is that we have arable land.

“Under the leadership of Tinubu and Shettima, there will be accelerated development of Nigeria, there will be a new Nigeria.

“There will be a resurrection of all those things that are dead or half-dead in Nigeria.

He urged the Federal Government to take advantage of abundant solid mineral deposits across the country to accelerate economic and infrastructural development.

He said the country had 32 solid minerals in commercial quantity, which, if harnessed, could turn the economy around for good.

He described Kogi as the solid mineral hub of the country and urged the government to prioritise the state in its solid mineral agenda.

“During the campaigns, the president promised to make Kogi the headquarters of solid minerals.

“This is because, out of the 32 solid minerals in Nigeria, there are 27 in Kogi,” he said.

Adeyemi urged Tinubu to source for competent Nigerians across ethnic and religious divides, that will help actualise his development plans for the country.

He expressed confidence that the president had the proven capacity to appoint the right people in the right positions.

“There are people who are not cut out for leadership. Tinubu does not have sentiments in his DNA, he considers what people are capable of doing, ” he said.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration on Saturday pulled down Abuja’s biggest graphics design and printing hub, the UTC Shopping Complex, over 30 years after it came into existence.

According to Administration officials, the sprawling complex had to be demolished to give way for reconstruction to fit into a model required to grow SMEs to address global business needs and challenges.

A Deputy Director, of Monitoring and Inspection, Department of Development Control, Hassan Ogbole said the structures were defective and there was a need to upgrade them to the standard that will meet global business standards.

Ogbole noted that provisions had been made for the traders and other occupants of the complex to enable reconstruction of the place.

He also stated that adequate notices were served on the occupants of the place to enable them to move out and allow the construction to start, but many of them deliberately refused to move out.

He said; “The place is in a state of disrepair. It is no longer habitable for occupation and business activities. The place has to give way for a new development.

“The company handling the development has informed Development Control and we are here to enforce compliance. We have given them enough notice for them to remove their goods, to enable us to start the work”.

Also Speaking, the Secretary, Command and Control, FCTA Department of Security, Peter Olumiji said demolishing the Complex was also needed to contain the security challenges in the area.

Olumiji noted that apart from restructuring the place to meet global standards, there was a need to nip criminal activities prevalent in the place.

According to him, it had become imperative to remodel the place to rid it of elements that engage in faking official documents.

One of the traders in the complex, Samuel Onuchukwu, said the traders and other occupants were worried because the temporary site provided by the developers, was not secured for business.

Onuchukwu disclosed that many of the traders were yet to remove their goods and property from the shops and offices.

According to him, they woke up early in the morning on Saturday to learn that the whole UTC area had been barricaded, and demolition was ongoing, while their wares were still trapped.