The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the country needs an experienced hand to run its affairs and cannot afford what he described as “a greenhorn” to rule Africa’s most populous nation.
He made the comment at the National Economic Summit Group (NESG) presidential dialogue on the economy in Lagos on Monday, noting, in a veiled form, that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot be trusted with power again.
“As head of the economic management team, while I was Vice President, I was instrumental in designing a private sector revival strategy and advocated for the opening of the economy for private sector investments in several sectors. And we made tremendous progress,” the former vice president tweeted on his handle.
“I’m sure you still remember the good old days of rapid economic growth with stable interest and exchange rates, low inflation, low unemployment rates, and low poverty headcount. We paid off nearly all of our foreign debt which was crippling the country.
“It will be dangerous for Nigeria to relinquish their future to a greenhorn or the national leader of the same party that brought us to this very sorry situation.”
As head of the economic management team while I was Vice President, I was instrumental in designing a private sector revival strategy and advocated for the opening of the economy for private sector investments in several sectors. And we made tremendous progress. #AtikuAtNESG
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) January 16, 2023
I’m sure you still remember the good old days of rapid economic growth with stable interest and exchange rates, low inflation, low unemployment rates and low poverty headcount. We paid off nearly all of our foreign debt which was crippling the country. #AtikuAtNESG
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) January 16, 2023
It will be dangerous for Nigeria to relinquish their future to a greenhorn or the national leader of the same party that brought us to this very sorry situation. #AtikuAtNESG
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) January 16, 2023
Atiku, who is from Adamawa in North-East, is one of the leading candidates for next month’s presidential election and served as vice president between 1999 and 2007 under the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo.
Contesting under the main opposition party, the 76-year-old will do battle with a former Lagos State governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Bola Tinubu; Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)’s Rabiu Kwankwaso among others.
The presidential poll takes place on February 25th with Nigeria’s electoral umpire the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) saying about 94 million persons are set to vote in the exercise which analysts have described as a four-horse race.
