In the last six weeks, as part of a research project I worked on, I have read the APC, PDP, PRP, SDP, and NNPP manifestos. LP hasn't officially released a manifesto so I relied heavily on statements made by its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Of all of these manifestos the section that deals with the economy in the PDP manifesto is the most detailed. It is also the one that answers the "how" question best. Who even handles that part of the manifesto really did an amazing job.

I say this because one can tell from the hurried & imprecise nature of sections like health, education(more on this) & security (surprisingly) that different teams were contracted to write each section. No way the team which wrote the section of economy wrote the one on security.

I was particularly wowed by the section on SMEs, & the open-market leaning pledges in that section. If Atiku is elected and he goes ahead to implement these pledges (politicians don't usually keep their promises), it is clear that businesses will thrive and unemployment cut.

The next rated to Atiku's is Obi for the two reasons: 1. Obi doesn't have a written policy document that clearly captures his plan. 2. Obi, from his statements and interviews, though free-market leaning and capitalist in outlook, occasionally waivers to LP's socialist outlook.

For example, while Obi says subsidy on petrol must go, Labour makes it conditional - All FG's refineries must be working, etc. Also Labour wants a national carrier. Obi is not interested in that. I see a lot of policy clashes between Obi and Labour if he wins.

Obi is also not as generous about the "hows" of his economy plans like Atiku. I like his Idea of a progressive tax regime. But his plan to fight insecurity by bettering the economy, though great on paper, leaves one with a chicken and egg dilemma.

Maybe because I lean toward liberal economy, I don't find the socialist economic plans of APC appealing, ditto for NNPP, SDP, and PRP (in fact, one of the five pillars of SDP is "Socialism/ State Control of the Economy". NNPP & SDP have their eyes still fixed on oil revenue

For Instance, SDP's presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo erroneously believes 80% of Nigeria's oil is stolen. And says he will get the fund to finance most of its plans by stopping oil-theft. That doesn't leave one with much hope, to be honest.

This thread is getting to long, so I will stop here for now. I will treat, Health and Education in the coming days, if I have the time. Thanks.