Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Dr. Bukola Saraki, says poverty, insecurity, unstable power supply and high-level unemployment in the country rather than the 2015 elections should attract urgent attention of the political class.

Speaking in Ilorin on Sunday, the former Kwara State governor lamented the state of the country, calling for action.

According to him, the country needs public officials who will tackle the many problems of the country, irrespective of the zones they come from.

Saraki said, "What we need is the issue of capacity at all levels. What Nigeria needs at all levels are people that will be able to perform and deliver. Whether you are a councilor, chairman, state and federal legislator, governor, or any political office-holder, what is required is performance. That is the focus and I think we should begin to reorientate ourselves along that line. We are faced with problems of unemployment, education and power. These are the things that require leadership and capacity.

"I think we all need to be responsible and we should address the issue of security. Talking about the issue of 2015 now may mean that we are not conscious of our environment. The major problem before us is unemployment particularly that of youths. There is the need for all of us, federal, state, local government, executive and legislature to find a mechanism of job creation.

"As you know security issue is interwoven with poverty. There are so many challenges there that we have to address them. We should focus on them at the moment. 2015 is a distraction at present. We must join hands and begin to address the problems that are staring us all at the face."

He said attention should be given to the development of agriculture to stimulate the economy, provide employment and boost national food security.

He added that Nigeria should expand its agricultural product processing capacity rather than spending over $5bn on processing agricultural products from other countries.

According to him, Nigeria should address the issue of gas and make gas readily available in the country for domestic needs and to attract investors.

The said, "I am not aware of any country where there is a domestic need for gas and people are still exporting gas. The priority of this country now is to have enough gas. I believe that the country must move in that direction and all stakeholders must be able to understand that we must put a condition.

"If you want us to expand the Liquified Natural Gas project, we must set specific target on domestic gas. Nobody will build petrochemical or fertiliser in Nigeria when there is no gas. We must direct policies such that our country provides gas. Otherwise the issue of power will have a lot of challenges."