The Nation Newspaper

Tag: atiku

  • PDP asks INEC to disqualify Buhari

    The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to disqualify president Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly bringing in people from outside the country to influence the election in his favour.

    Chairman of PDP, Uche Secundus, made the call in Enugu during the PDP rally for election of the presidential candidate of the Party, Atiku Abubakar and other candidates of the party in the 2019 elections.

    He accused Buhari of planning to influence the election in his favour and called on INEC to disqualify Buhari over alleged plans to influence the election.

    Read Also: Buhari shifts Zamfara campaign rally

    He urged Enugu people to vote for a man (Atiku) that will not sleep on duty, adding that “PDP is Enugu and Enugu is PDP”

    In his speech, Atiku urged Ndigbo not to miss the opportunity of producing the vice president, adding that vice president is from the South East.

    He, therefore, called on them to vote for him, saying the PDP has never failed the people of the South East.

    Present at the rally were Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Governor Ifeanyi Ugsuanyi, Jim Nwobodo, among others.

  • 2019: Public schools shut as Atiku campaigns in Enugu

    Public primary and secondary schools in Enugu were shut on Friday, when the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar stormed the state for the Feb. 16 presidential election campaign.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that students of the various public secondary schools were seen going home as early as 10 a.m. as a result of the campaign visit by Atiku’s train.

    One of the students, who wanted anonymity told NAN that his teacher told him and others in the class to go home because of Atiku’s visit.

    It was the same situation in other public schools visited by NAN education correspondent in Enugu town.

    The students, however, said they were not mandated to attend the campaign rally holding at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium.

    Meanwhile, some parents in the state have faulted the decision to send students home because of a political campaign rally.

    Read Also: Presidential campaign: Heavy security as Atiku storms Abakaliki

    Mr Francis Ogbu, said it was wrong to have suspended academic activities due to an individual’s political aspiration.

    Ogbu said that under-age students needed not to be dragged into politics.

    Mrs Uzoamaka Onukwuburi also in her comments, wondered what might have informed the closure of public schools before the usual time.

    Onukwuburi said that she could not understand why politics had degenerated to the level of suspending academic activities due to a campaign rally.

    The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, could not be contacted on phone for comments.

  • Presidential campaign: Heavy security as Atiku storms Abakaliki

    Security have been beefed up in some parts of Ebonyi State Capital, Abakaliki following campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that major roads leading to the Pa Ngele Oruta Stadium were blocked to traffic while vehicles were diverted to other convenient routes.

    NAN also reports that all the markets in the city were closed for business as the people trooped in their numbers to the stadium for the rally.

    NAN observed that the10,000 capacity stadium was already filled to the brim as at 8 am by the PDP faithful drawn from the 13 Local government areas of the state.

    Mr Emmanuel Uzor, the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Dave Umahi told NAN that Ebonyi as PDP state is fully `Atikulated’ adding that the state was ready for him.

    “We are ready for the PDP presidential candidate. The turnout is tremendous and unprecedented. Ebonyi will give him 1.4 million votes during the February 16 presidential election.

    “Atiku is our own and the government has made full arrangements for the campaign rally,” he said.

    Uzor announced a total victory for the PDP at the national level.

    A member of `Friends of Atiku’ Ebonyi Chapter, Mr Chijioke Agwu, noted that the people of the state and the nation had confidence in the Atiku/Obi ticket.

    “We have no doubt that when he becomes the president, Nigeria will be a country all of us will be proud of.

    “In Ebonyi State everybody is PDP and Atiku Abubakar is our candidate. Already the Ohaneze Ndigbo the umbrella and apex socion-cultural organization in the South East has endorsed them.

    “We are happy to welcome them to Ebonyi and we use this opportunity to reassure them that the state is totally for them and will cast block vote come February 16,” he said.

  • I’ll complete 2nd Niger Bridge because of my wife, says Atiku

    •PDP candidate to reactivate ports in Delta

    PEOPLE’S Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has promised the Southeast people that he will complete the Second Niger Bridge.

    Atiku, who made the promise yesterday at the party’s mega campaign rally in Onitsha, said he would ensure its quick completion because of his wife, who hails from the commercial city of Anambra.

    He also promised to ensure the completion and construction of roads in the region with the assistance of his running mate, Mr. Peter Obi.

    Atiku, who was accompanied to the campaign field by Obi and his wife, Jenifer Atiku Abubakar, said he was not in Onitsha to campaign, but to present his wife and deputy, who he said were the real contestants.

    “I’m not here to campaign, but to inform you that your son, Peter Obi and your daughter are the real contestants. I’m in the minority.

    “You asked me to complete Second Niger Bridge, that I’ll do because of my wife. With Peter Obi as the VP, be rest assured that the roads in the region will be completed too,” the candidate said.

    Asking the people to get their permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) ready to vote out President Buhari’s  All Progressives Congress (APC) administration at the February election, Atiku asked them to vote for PDP candidates.

    Also speaking, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, who presented the party’s candidates, canvased votes for them at the polls.

    During his visit to the Obi of Onitsha, Obi Alfred Achebe, Atiku sought for the blessing of the monarch, which, according to him, would boost his economic dreams for the country.

    “Your royal blessing will nurture this quest for new economic direction of our country through new political economy resolve.”

    He also assured the monarch that his policy would promote culture and tourism in the country.

    Atiku also yesterday vowed to reactivate all ports in Delta State, if elected president.

    Atiku, who addressed PDP faithful in the state, was accompanied by his running mate, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Secondus and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

    He said his administration would complete the Federal Government projects abandoned by the APC, adding that the projects were abandoned because the state “is loyal to the PDP”.

    Atiku said the Second Niger Bridge would receive priority attention by his administration.

    He said his administration would reward the loyalty of Delta State to the PDP since 1999.

    His words: “All the projects abandoned by the APC will be completed. This state has suffered marginalisation by the APC because of its loyalty to the PDP. Because you have been loyal, my government will reward your loyalty.”

    Atiku accused the APC of engaging in propaganda, adding that the party has reneged on its promises of fixing the Nigerian economy, tackling security and providing jobs for the masses.

    Read also: Buhari in Kano: I’ll continue to fulfil my promises

    Okowa hailed Deltans for being peace-loving, stressing that “we have built bridges of partnership of peace and relationships. We have built infrastructure, education, health and created jobs through our job creation initiatives. We believe in the PDP vision of bringing peace to all Nigerians”.

    Okowa assured the PDP  presidential candidate that the party would win with landslide victory.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki mocked President Buhari for  his alleged poor performance during the media debates, hailing Atiku as “eloquent, intelligent and articulate”.

    He said the APC should be voted out of power because it has failed to keep its promises of revamping the economy, tackling security issues and providing jobs for the teeming youths.

    He said the APC has scared businesses away because it was not a respecter of rule of law.

    To Obi, a vote for Atiku is a vote for growth.

    Secondus said the party would cash in on every misstep made by the President and the APC.

    He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is under pressure to rig the election, but warned that it would be an invitation to war.

     

     

     

  • Why Atiku should sue Obasanjo, by Oshiomhole

    IF the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has his ways, former vice president Atiku Abubakar will sue his erstwhile boss President Olusegun Obasanjo for defamation of character.

    Oshiomhole said it was not enough for the former president to recant on the scathing remarks he had made about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate at fora and in written documents.

    Speaking yesterday at the APC presidential campaign at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano, urged Atiku to sue Obasanjo, who had at various times, querying his credibility, for libel.

    Oshiomhole insisted that until Atiku was able to redeem his image through a law court, he will remain unfit to seek the support of Nigerians to be president.

    He said: “If Obasanjo says that Atiku is corrupt, but  because of his hatred against President Buhari, he is ready to forgive Atiku, does that cleanse Atiku from corruption? No!

    “The only way Atiku can clean his name is to go to court. If Atiku did not sue Obasanjo for libel, that means everything that was said about him was correct. And if it is correct, then, he is not the right candidate to rule Nigeria.”

    “Again, Mr. President, you said you are going to lift 50,000 persons from poverty and you are doing it but they say you are slow, but when Atiku promised to empower seven million people, they have already thrown 14 million people out of their jobs.

    “All the textile companies in Sharada and Bompai in Kano, Gaskiya Textile is dead, all the factories in these areas, who killed them? It is PDP, Obasanjo as vice president. How can he now say he is going to give our jobs when presided over Industrial obituaries in Kano, Lagos and every other place in Nigeria.”

  • Atiku under fire for promising amnesty for looters

    •APC urges Nigerians to block looters’ return to power
    •Campaign council accuses PDP candidates of bare-faced lies

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that the plan by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to grant amnesty to those who looted the nation’s commonwealth has vindicated its stance that the PDP candidate is only interested in returning the country to the era where sharing of national wealth was the order of the day.

    The APC Presidential Campaign Council also attacked Atiku and his running mate, Peter Obi, for engaging in what it described as bare-faced lies and dishonest claims when they appeared on a national television programme, “The Candidate” on Wednesday night.

    The ruling party said the PDP candidate did not hide his intention to give a red carpet to those people who “wickedly teamed up” with the PDP to ruin the country, adding that Nigerians must rise up to resist such move to return Nigerian to Egypt.

    Its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja, said the promise to grant amnesty to looters meant he was not interested in the fight against corruption, but planning to put the destiny of millions of Nigerians in the hand of the same people that worked so hard to impoverish them.

    Issa-Onilu said it was clear that Atiku’s presidential bid was not to serve the country, but the interest of his friends and foreign concerns and interests.

    He added that he was only interested in selling off national assets the way he did when he was National Council on Privatisation Chairman.

    The APC Spokesman said: “In the aftermath of Wednesday night’s televised town hall meeting, ‘The Candidates’, attended by the PDP presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Mr. Peter Obi, a redefinition of their presidential campaign slogan, “Let’s loot Nigeria again” is now trending heavily in the social media.

    “Going by Atiku and Obi’s shocking confession that their administration will grant amnesty to looters, we are equally shocked and hereby align with the wide-section of Nigerians who are now abundantly clear of their intentions, if elected and now see the collective need to stop them.

    “The insistence of Alhaji Atiku and PDP to take us through this dangerous route, where the nation’s economic policies and programmes are driven mainly by the interests of leaders, their local friends, and foreign partners constitute a present danger every well-meaning Nigerian must rise against. The choices before Nigerians cannot be more clearer.”

    Also, the APC Presidential Campaign Council spokesman Festus Keyamo, in a statement in Abuja, said simple fact checks revealed that several claims by the PDP candidate and his running mate were nothing but a tissue of lies.

    Keyamo said Nigerians should take note of Atiku’s definition of corruption as “the use of your privileged position to either enrich yourself or enrich your relatives or even your friends”.

    He added: “When this is juxtaposed with his earlier statement in Lagos, that he will enrich his friends, if he becomes President, we can safely conclude that he will be fully in the business of corruption, if he becomes President.

    “Atiku/Obi made it clear to Nigerians that conflict of interests as a public servant should be the norm as, during their tenures, they found absolutely nothing wrong then and today, with investing public funds in enterprises they own or their families own. For instance, Kadaria ran Peter Obi into a ditch when she asked him if his family was not enriched as a result of using public funds for his family business ‘NEXT’.

    “Their claim on experience in running anything public or private cannot stand any act of scrutiny. The presidential candidate, who is easily a  major contributor to our huge unemployment problem today as a result of his corrupt privatisation programme, counts this failure as a huge experience and wants to repeat same if elected.

    “Their proposed  Agriculture Programme which they claim to have put together to lift majority of the people out of poverty is a version of what is already being implemented by the present government under the Anchors Borrowers Programme and the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programmes.

    “After watching Atiku/Obi on that programme, it has become clear to all Nigerians that our public institutions and commonwealth would be in grave danger if left in the hands of these dodgy and questionable characters who have no morals and no scruples about using and misusing public funds for private gains.”

    Keyamo listed some of the lies he claimed were told by the PDP candidate and his running mate during the broadcast programme.

     

     

  • Why Atiku can’t get support from Southwest

    In this piece, Moses Ipadeola highlights the factors that will shape the presidential election in the Southwest on February 16.

    As the nation continues the steady march towards the February 16 Presidential Election, one big question that has been agitating the minds of the people of the Southwest geopolitical zone of the country is what they stand to benefit by voting for either of the two main contending parties – the APC and the PDP. This is a question that falls within the purview of analysts to examine and present an overview of what to expect from the zone in the coming election.

    One of the main grouses of the people of the Southwest against the PDP is the way the party treated the people of the zone during the Jonathan administration of 2009 to 2015. The people believe and rightly so, that they had been shortchanged not only in the siling of infrastructural projects in the zone but also in appointments to public offices.

    Hardly can one point to any major project started and completed in the Southwest during the rule of Goodluck Jonathan or that of his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Instead many projects initiated by the two PDP leaders have been abandoned halfway only to be taken over by the Buhari administration. Many of such projects have either been completed by now or nearing completion by the current APC government of President Buhari.

    For example, the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway construction was to be done through a concessionary arrangement that flopped. That all important project very vital to the socio-economic well-being of the South westerners has now been taken over by Buhari and is getting near completion stage and more interestingly, this big undertaking is now being executed through direct government funding.

    Similarly, one of the busiest roads in Nigeria, the Ibadan/Oyo/Ogbomosho Expressway which was started by the PDP government of Chief  Olusegun Obasanjo was abandoned at Oyo leaving the Oyo/Ogbomosho section uncompleted since the past 16years. It is Buhari government that is now working towards the completion of the project.

    One other major project that has continued to gladden the hearts of the Yoruba people is the standard gauge railway project directly linking Lagos with Ibadan, the political Capital of the Southwest. This project was started by Jonathan but nothing was done on it until Buhari came on board. While on a state visit to China, Buhari renegotiated the project with the Chinese authorities. Work is progressing at a high speed right now on the project.

    You can just imagine a rail journey from Lagos to Ibadan taking only 30minutes. And what about haulage of goods between the two great metropolis? Why will the Southwest then choose to show ingratitude to a party, APC that is doing much at the same time in the geopolitical zone?

    Right now Atiku is dangling the bait of restructuring to the region. But where are the details of his restructuring proposal? Will he do it, can he do it and is it going to be a project that will favour the people in that zone? Atiku came to Ibadan to canvass for the people’s support but merely touched the issue of restructuring on the surface. He merely browsed the issue and made no promise to complete ongoing projects that are of immense socio-economic value to the South westerners.

    Today, Alhaji Atiku’s most vociferous backer is Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President who had once declared the PDP candidate as unfit to rule Nigeria because of what he described as his insatiable greed and corruption. But even then, the pertinent question is, does Obasanjo possess the moral or political compass by which he can direct the course of events in Yorubaland?

    Only recently, one of the most highly respected leaders of the Yoruba nation, General Alani Akinrinade, former Chief of Defense Staff, took a swipe at Chief Obasanjo and described his call on South westerners to vote for Atiku as “an insult to our collective intelligence”. He also blamed the media for according the ex-president undue attention, adding that they (the media) owe Nigerians the responsibility of “keeping this irritable man where he belongs – the waste bin of history”.

    The retired general then advised his comrade-in-arms to “allow Nigerians choose who they want and stop goading the citizenry for his own selfish interests”. Alani Akinrinade has spoken the minds of most Nigerians, especially people of the Southwest. General Akinrinade is seen and regarded as a highly influential and respected leader whose views on any issues are usually taken as representing the collective interests of the Yoruba.

    Now, if Atiku thinks he can rely on Obasanjo’s support to win Southwest votes, then he has missed the point. He must be living under a great illusion that Obasanjo’s political clout in the zone is sufficient enough for him to withstand PMB’s rabbit punch in the February 16 election. The Yoruba people have never regarded Obasanjo as a true son of theirs and many PDP leaders and supporters in the zone regard his much orchestrated support for Atiku as constituting a big albatross on the neck of his former vice.

    Reasons why the duo of Obasanjo and Atiku cannot influence voters in the Southwest cannot be far-fetched, given the antecedents of the two leaders while holding the highest offices in the land. Neither of the two of them can point to any project or undertaking of significance that can qualify them for the people’s support or gratitude.

    During Atiku’s eight-year vice-presidential tenure, people of the Southwest said they did not see the positive impact of his performance or activities either as a political juggermet or as the all-powerful No. 2 man who could influence the establishment of important national projects in the zone. The name “Atiku Abubakar” is heard in Yorubaland only when he comes calling for electoral support and not for the commissioning or laying of the foundation stone of any public or private projects in any area of the zone. He did not even honour the invitation to witness the heavily attended installation ceremony of the incumberant Olubadan of Ibadan Land, Oba.

    As for the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Yoruba can never forgive him for the ignoble roles he had played in the affairs of his own people. According to General Alani Akinrinade, through Obasanjo’s “clandestine maneuvers in 1979, he foisted on Nigeria a reluctant Shehu Shagari at the expense of cerebral Obafemi Awolowo”. Through the same undemocratic practice he caused the removal of a popular governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja from office in 2007.

    Though Obasanjo was foisted on Nigeria as President by the military to atone for the great loss suffered by the Yoruba in the aborted June 12, 1993 Presidential Election and the state murder of its winner, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, the main beneficiary of those sordid events, Obasanjo did not for once publicly appreciate the sacrifice made to bring him back to power, fame and world recognition.

    For this and many more, including his unfriendly attitude towards the famous Awolowo family, Obasanjo is and will for many years to come remain a political outcast among the children of Oduduwa.

    It is however to the eternal credit of President Muhammadu Buhari that what Obasanjo ungratefully refused to do for his own people in his eight years of misrule, PMB did it in under two years, and that is the official recognition and proclamation of M.K.O. Abiola as winner of  the 1993 Presidential Election! This great and courageous act of patriotism on the part of President Buhari is more than enough to endear him to the hearts of South westerners and dismiss the vituperations of Obasanjo as the tantrums of a rejected leader.

    By now Atiku should be reminded of the inglorious antecedents of his former boss, his own reputation as a corrupt and ineffectual leader and accept the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in February 16 Election as a fait-accompli

     

  • Atiku does not need Nigeria’s money, says wife

    Wife of former Vice President, Titi Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday told women her husband is not interested in cornering the nation’s wealth but out to serve the masses.

    She disclosed that with Atiku’s choice to back restructuring, Nigeria will be repositioned adding that Atiku would assist the country with his wealth where necessary.

    Titi Abubakar spoke during a rally in Abuja at the old parade ground area 10, alongside Poeples Democratic Party (PDP) governor’s wife, Former PDP senators, ministers and other party faithful.

    She went further that women should shun violence in the forthcoming elections and vote for their choice without fear or favour.

    Titi Abubakar vowed to ensure the welfare of women, youths and children in the scheme of things when her husband is elected president.

    Her words: “Atiku must rule. Atiku must get Nigeria working again. You know that Atiku is a job creator and he is going to engage most of the unemployed people.

    Read Also: Osun tribunal: ‘INEC is allowed to rectify errors in result sheets’

    “You know that Atiku is for restructuring. It is for your good. The Federal Government is too powerful that is why we must decentralise.

    “Nigerian women are suffering. Atiku will give the women micro credit so that you can do your businesses.

    “Don’t allow anybody to come and be giving you N10, 000. Do not destroy your children future. N10, 000 cannot carry you through 4 years and 8 years.

    “The PVC they are collecting from you is a bad omen because on the day of voting you need your PVC.

    “My women, I am telling you, collect their money and refuse to vote them. Vote the person of your choice. That money they are bringing to you is your money and your entitlement. Don’t give them your PVC. If you give them you have sold your children’s future.”

    She went on: “Atiku is an educationist, he has businesses, he has done it before as Vice President and he is going to do it again as President. He was the head of the economic when he was with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    “Atiku does not want Nigerians money, he has made money. You know he has so many children.

    “All the children are not working in government offices except for one, who is a medical doctor and she is the commissioner in Adamawa State.

    “She has told his father that he is not APC or PDP. She said she wants to work for her people, she wants to save lives and that is what she has been doing.”

  • APC to Atiku/Obi: You told Nigerians bare faced lies

    The APC Presidential Campaign Council said on Thursday that the PDP Presidential, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Peter Obi were engaged in what it described as bare face lies and dishonest claims when they appeared on a national television programme, “The Candidate” on Wednesday night.

    Spokesman of the Campaign, Barrister Festus Keyamo said in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja that simple fact checks revealed that several claims by the PDP candidate and his running mate were nothing but a tissue of lies.

    Keyamo said Nigerians should take note of “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar defined Corruption as “the use of your privileged position to either enrich yourself or enrich your relatives or even your friends”, adding that “when this is juxtaposed with his earlier statement in Lagos, that he will enrich his friends if he becomes President, we can safely conclude that he will be fully in the business of corruption if he becomes President.

    “Atiku/Obi made it clear to Nigerians that conflict of interests as a public servant should be the norm as, during their tenures, they found absolutely nothing wrong then and today, with investing public funds in enterprises they own or their families own. For instance, Kadaria ran Peter Obi into a ditch when she asked him if his family was not enriched as a result of using public funds for his family business ‘NEXT’.

    “Their claim on experience in running anything public or private cannot stand any act of scrutiny. The Presidential candidate, who is easily a major contributor to our huge unemployment problem today as a result of his corrupt privatisation programme, counts this failure as a huge experience and wants to repeat same if elected.

    “Their proposed Agriculture Programme which they claim to have put together to lift majority of the people out of poverty is a version of what is already being implemented by the present government under the Anchors Borrowers Programme and the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programmes.

    “After watching Atiku/Obi on that programme, it has become clear to all Nigerians that our public institutions and commonwealth would be in grave danger if left in the hands of these dodgy and questionable characters who have no morals and no scruples about using and misusing public funds for private gains.”

    Keyamo listed some of the lies he claimed were told by the PDP candidate and his running mate to include:

    *Lie Number 1: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that at handover in May 2019, our GDP growth rate was 6%. Fact Checked Truth: It is a well-documented fact that at handover, the GDP growth rate was 2.35%. The economy was on a free fall as the GDP growth rate had dropped for three consecutive quarters.

    *Lie Number 2: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claims recession was caused by the APC Government. Fact Checked Truth: With a consistent and rapid drop of our GDP, their Coordinating Minister of the Economy at that time, Okonjo Iweala, former Central Bank Governor Prof. Charles Soludo and the Central Bank Governor at the time, now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, warned the PDP Government and Nigerians that we were headed for a recession.

    *Lie Number 3: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed that security challenges were restricted to the North East during their time. Truth: Nigerians will recall that the Boko Haram activities had spread all over the North East, North West and North Central. For instance, UN Headquarters, Police Headquarters, a Bus stop in Nyanya, a prominent Plaza in Wuse II were all bombed during the era of the last government in Abuja. A church or Mosque was bombed every week in 2013/2014. The herders-farmers’ clashes were the deadliest in 2014, claiming over 1,300 lives in a short period across the North. Boko Haram occupied over 17 Local Government Areas and hoisted their flags, effectively establishing a caliphate in the North East. All these happened before the coming of this administration.

    *Lie Number 4: Peter Obi claimed that out-of-school children grew to 13.5 million under this administration. Truth: The figure of 13.2 million out-of-school children was a 2015 survey by UNICEF. An alarm was raised by several global bodies then because the figure had grown from 10.5 million in 2010 to 13.2 million in 2015, despite record earnings of the Government at that time. In other words, Peter Obi’s claim is self-indicting.

    *Lie Number 5: That Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as a Customs officer, said there was nothing wrong at that time with setting up a company that had dealings in the Ports that were under customs supervision.
    Truth: The Code of Conduct for Public Officers was first enshrined in the 1979 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Atiku Abubakar co-founded the company, as a serving customs officer, three years after the 1979 constitution came into operation. According to Section 1 of the 5th Schedule to the 1979 Constitution, a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities. By establishing a company involved in Port-related business at a time when he was an officer in the Nigeria Customs Service charge with managing the Ports, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar definitely put himself in a position where his personal (business) interest conflicted with his duties as a public officer.

    *Lie Number 6: Peter Obi claims Nigeria has record poverty now. Truth: Despite high oil revenue, according to the World Bank, extreme poverty under PDP grew to 112 million in 2013 through 2014, compared to 86 million today. India pulled their citizens out of poverty for over two decades by using the same methods Nigeria is now using today.

    He said further that “In summary one would have thought that in the course of the programme, ‘The Candidates’, Atiku/Obi would have modified the lies they told earlier in their campaigns and make it consistent with reality as most of them were already fact-checked by independent bodies and proven to be lies. Alas, they have continued on the same path, believing that ‘If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed”.

  • Obasanjo vouch for Atiku to reposition Nigeria

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday restated his confidence in his erstwhile deputy Atiku Abubakar to reposition the country.

    He spoke at the 2019 Island Club Quarterly Business Lecture, where the former vice president delivered a lecture titled: “My vision to get Nigeria Working again”.

    In his remark, Obasanjo believed that Atiku had the experience, the capacity and passion to move the country forward.

    According to him, his support for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate should no longer look strange to Nigerians, despite what he said and wrote about him in the past.

    He said that he stood firmly by whatever he said in the past about Atiku and indeed President Buhari.

    He, however, said the PDP candidate had demonstrated what was expected of a committed and sincere leader by owing up to his past mistakes and showing remorse. Obasanjo added that Atiku had not only apologised to his political party and the nation, but also apologised to him for the past disagreements he made as his deputy.

    He said that Atiku was not infallible like every other human being and that he, (Obasanjo) would be playing God by not forgiving the former vice president.

    Obasanjo: “I have been called names because of my position on Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri Adamawa. “Everything I have said as far as I have knowledge of Atiku, I have not retracted and I stand firmly by them because they are to the best of my knowledge true.

    “And neither has what I have said and written about Buhari been controverted, if anything, they have been confirmed and proved beyond any shadow of doubt. “But Atiku has done things which are absolutely imperative for a leader to be followed and believed. “First, know who you are and present yourself as you are – a human being in blood and flesh and susceptible to human mistakes and human frailties.

    “Don’t cover up with sanctimonious veneer of bogus integrity, incorruptibility, uprightness, goodness and false figures and statistics, all of which are contrived to deceive, to cheat, to plunder and to destroy.

    “Atiku never claimed to be a saint and I never described him as such. I will never so describe any human being alive let alone calling him a Messiah.

    “On an occasion in the past when I said that someone was not a Messiah, some Nigerians out of bad “belle” were up in arms.

    “For me, as a Christian, the only Messiah I know and have is Jesus Christ and even then, the man aspect of Him was imperfect while the divine aspect of Him was perfectly messianic.”