Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate, pledged yesterday that if elected president the following year, he would reinstate the economic policies that had been put in place during the 1999–2007 administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, while he served as vice president.
He claimed he would specifically urge more private sector investment to boost economic activity, foster job creation, and focus on eradicating poverty.
In Lagos, the former vice president made the claims at a discussion with editors from the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).
Atiku promised that his government will actively collaborate with business leaders to address the nation’s infrastructure shortfall. He reiterated his support for resource management by well-equipped subnational units and expressed optimism for mending fences with fellow party member and governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike.
According to Atiku, “My program to revive the economy and reduce our infrastructural deficit gaps depends heavily on the private sector.” If I win the presidency, I’ll work closely with business by offering them incentives to increase job growth and tax breaks so they can become involved in building our infrastructure.
“It is clear to everyone that the government lacks sufficient funds, and our nation has continued to suffer from a heavy debt load. Therefore, government must be innovative, and including the private sector is one method to permanently solve our infrastructure challenges.
If elected, the PDP contender claimed restructuring will be his first order of business as president. If elected, he reaffirmed his commitment to making sure that any required constitutional changes that would result in a transfer of more authority and resources to lower levels of government were put into effect on his first day in office.
Additionally, he promised to create a government of national unity.
According to Atiku, the country has been increasingly divided along sectarian, religious, and ethnic lines in recent years, and only a government of national unity can mend the wound.
In addition, Atiku said that the actions taken by the PDP government under the Obasanjo administration, when members of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and All Peoples Party (APP) were included in the government after the PDP won the election in 1999, paved the way for peace and unity after a tense period.
“We still included representatives of the opposition parties in a government of national unity even though the PDP won by a wide margin in 1999, and with that, we were able to guarantee unity,” he stated.
Atiku stated that if elected president, he would ensure that every geopolitical zone has a sense of belonging and is represented in the leadership of the security agencies. He said he would not act in the same way as President Muhammadu Buhari, who chose nearly all the heads of the law enforcement agencies from a section of the country.
In terms of the economy, he declared that he will maintain Obasanjo’s economic policies, notably the privatization of failing state firms.
Atiku emphasized the value of a private sector-led economy, claiming that the most successful economies in the world are mostly driven by the private sector.
Most prosperous economies enable the private sector to play a part, and under Obasanjo’s leadership, he said, prosperity was experienced.
According to him, the government might offer such concessions to the private sector rather than borrow money to build roads and bridges, which would help generate the necessary employment and prosperity.
When asked how he would do this, Atiku said that he would make sure that more people were hired, that more equipment was bought, that more people were trained, and that more money was given to the security services.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) federal government now in office does not include as many women as the PDP did while it was in power. He also proclaimed his support for state police and made a commitment to involve more women in governance.
Atiku emphasized that even when the north was not amenable to them, he had been a champion of resource control, devolution of authority, and reform.
He said that he had put together a group of judicial attorneys to assist him in drafting legislation that would be sent to the National Assembly in order to facilitate the required constitutional revisions to assure restructuring.
Atiku promised his audience that the ongoing dispute inside the PDP would soon be handled and referred to it as a family matter.
Discussions are ongoing. We treat it as a family matter because it is. We will soon find a solution to our family problem, he promised.
But the PDP presidential candidate emphasized that it was regrettable that certain media outlets decided to misrepresent what he had said during a meeting with the Lagos Business School Alumni Association on Tuesday.
He said, “It is regrettable that certain media outlets publicized my comments at an event yesterday, which raises questions about my readiness to carry out my reform plan.
So let me take advantage of this occasion to tell the gatekeepers of the Nigerian media that my restructuring program is still in place and will be carried out as soon as I take office.
I have already received a report from the group of constitutional law specialists I organized to examine our constitution and identify potential amendments for the concurrent and residual lists.
“Let me assure you that if I am elected president next year, I will begin working on the execution of that report from my very first day in office.”
Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto State and director general of Atiku’s national campaign management committee (NCMC) for the 2023 elections, stated in his speech that the former vice president would be ready to take office immediately. Atiku’s victory, according to Tambuwal, would ensure that Nigeria was in good hands.
The editors’ forum, according to NGE President Mustapha Issa, was created to provide candidates a chance to promote their plans to voters before to the election.
Issa recommended all candidates in the election of 2023 to refrain from personal attacks and mudslinging. He asked them to focus on problems that would improve the nation’s future.
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