Waive Ejiroghene Francis
Waive Ejiroghene Francis is a Nigerian politician who contested the 2023 House of Representative Elections as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Delta.
Biography
Francis Ejiroghene Waive (born 21 May 1966) is a Nigerian priest and politician who currently serves as a member of the House of Representatives, from Delta state and the Ughelli North/South/Udu federal constituency.
Waive was born on 21 May 1966 in Lagos Nigeria. He attended the Aladja grammar school in Udu, Delta State, Nigeria, and received a degree in accounting from the Edo State University Ekpoma, now known as the Ambrose Ali University.
He studied accounting. Waive was deployed to Lagos State for his National Youth Service Corps. He completed his NYSC with Oceanic Bank PLC, now known as Ecobank Nigeria.
He resigned several years later from the bank having decided to become a minister.
Waive relocated to Warri, Nigeria to start the Church of the Anointing in 1997. Until his election into the House of Representatives, he was the senior pastor of the Church of the Anointing Warri.
He helped establish the Riverine Communities Health & Development Organization, intended to dispense charity to the medically deprived communities of the core Niger Delta region.
Currently, he is the chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business of the 10th Assembly in the House of Representatives.
His election into the House of Representatives was riddled with numerous litigations from the state high courts to the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The APC party primaries alone had 8 litigations, one of which was eventually settled in the Supreme Court.
His major opponent during the APC primary, Julius Akpovoka, claimed to be the rightful winner in some suits, while others alleged that Waive stepped down for his candidacy. These litigations set major judicial precedents, especially in Delta State.
In the 2015 elections, a candidate was declared dead and his candidacy given to another while he was still alive and campaigning.
Waive is married to Rita, who is a guidance and counselling educationist. They have five children.
Party Positions
Policy positions from the All Progressives Congress (APC) party manifesto.
Security & Defense
Enhances compensation, medical care, housing support, scholarships, stipends, and health insurance for military personnel injured in duty and their families.
Governance & Reform
Commits to amending Nigeria’s governance architecture through constitutional review and collaboration with the National Assembly and State Governments to grant States greater autonomy over critical matters like crime prevention, prisons, stamp duties, and taxation.
Economy & Trade
Reforms the Federal Budgetary Methodology to move away from oil revenue dependence and base spending on projected growth, establishing an inflationary ceiling to optimize fiscal policy without causing excessive inflation.
Infrastructure
Launches a National Infrastructure Campaign to modernize national infrastructure by hiring millions of unemployed Nigerians through the fiscal flexibility gained from reforming budgetary methodology.
Agriculture
Will encourage local farmers to form farm cooperatives, enabling them to pool resources for modern farming equipment, fertiliser, and access priority government agricultural assistance programs (extension services), with tax breaks and credits.
Environment & Climate
Will **reduce Nigeria’s gas flaring** by removing it from the top 10 countries with highest flares, aiming to maximize sector benefits while eliminating environmental harm.
Anti-corruption
Curb reliance on imported goods via luxury taxes, higher tariffs, and processing fees while incentivizing local manufacturing with tax credits/rebates.
Enterprise grant support
Provides tax credits, holidays, and reduced interest rate loans for businesses that hire a specified percentage of youth in their workforce and offer on-the-job training.
Energy
Will increase Nigeria’s domestic crude oil production to **2.6 million barrels per day by 2027** and **4 million barrels per day by 2030**, while implementing a Special Enforcement and Monitoring Unit to deter theft, vandalism, and pipeline breaches using drones and aerial surveillance.
Education
Introduces a new management system for federally funded primary and secondary schools via Boards of Education, reserving community representation in decision-making.
Healthcare
Will strengthen primary healthcare infrastructure with incentive schemes, counterpart funding programs, and grassroots preventative care (vaccinations, cancer screening, blood pressure monitoring) in collaboration with state/local governments.
Technology & Digital
Establishment of an advisory committee to review and reform regulatory frameworks for blockchain technology and virtual asset services.
Reliefs and scholarships
Provides **conditional income support** to very poor households, tied to human capital development goals like high-school attendance, healthcare, and nutrition.
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