Atiku interacts with business executives in Lagos, speaks on fuel subsidy, FX rate

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has made his stand known on a plethora of economic issues Nigeria is currently battling.

The former vice president of Nigeria who spoke about his recovery plan for Nigeria at the Lagos Business School 2022 Alumnia Day which had in attendance business executives, engaged the audience about economic issues, fuel subsidy, foreign exchange policy, debt crisis, power as well as the oil and gas sector.

He also used the platform to pay tribute to the private sector for the successes recorded by the PDP between 1999 and 2007.

Atiku, who started his session by giving a brief background on the economic gains of the PDP between 1999 and 2007, including debt cancellation, privatisation, banking reforms, and effective working partnerships with the private sector.

On the rising cost of governance, the former VP said he would revisit the Orosanye report and ensure the white paper report is in conformity with the principle of setting up the committee.

He further said his privatisation plan is not to render people jobless but to ensure effective governance.

Speaking on fuel subsidies, he noted how the PDP government had phased them out in batches, saying: “I was the chairman of the removal of fuel subsidies committee, and I recall how we removed phase 1 and phase 2 of fuel subsidies. I will continue from where we stopped, remove fuel subsidies totally, and channel the subsidy funds back to the economy. In other words, it’s just a fraud.”

He described Nigeria’s debt situation as a mess, saying he would fix it if he is elected president.

His words: “If you are talking about foreign debt, we have done it before, I will engage our creditors and ask for debt forgiveness or cancellation like we did before. Coming to local debt, if we stabilise the economy, we will borrow less, propose a flexible payment plan.

“Again, I want you to compare our records with the current government and you can see who did well economically.”

The former vice president stated that he will reform the oil and gas sector by ensuring the right investors are engaged such that Nigeria’s crude production increases while ensuring the privatization of the three refineries in the country.

According to him, with such policies in place, it will ultimately make Nigeria an oil production hub.

He equally vowed to ensure proper funding for public education, arguing that it should be enjoyed for free by children of the poor.

He also promised to reposition the UBE set up in 1999 for its main purpose, which is to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the country.

When asked to comment on the autonomy of the CBN, Atiku said the current managers of the apex bank are taking a cue from the current administration, “which lacks direction.”