Atiku Abubakar, presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has described the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as a “mafia organisation”, vowing to
privatise it if elected.
Speaking in Lagos during an
interactive session with the business community on Wednesday, Atiku said he
would take the step even if doing so would cost him his life.
He explained that he sold the
idea to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo whom he deputised between 1999 and 2007
but that the former president did not approve of it.
Atiku said he is convinced that
NNPC would run better if not managed by the government.
“Let me go back to my experience.
When we got into office, I walked up to my boss and said “Sir, there are two
mafia organisations in government: one is the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) while the other one is the National Electricity Power Authority
(NEPA),” he said.
“I said unless we dismantle these
mafia organisations, we cannot make progress. Let’s privatise them… the long
and short of this is that I am committed to privitaisation as I have said. I
swear even if they are going to kill me, I will do it (privatise NNPC).”
Atiku also spoke on how an expert
in the petroleum sector influenced his stance on privatisation of NNPC.
“I asked a Nigerian professor
based in America; I said ‘Prof, do you have ministry of petroleum in America?’
He said no,” he said.
“I said, ‘Do you have an
organisation like NNPC over there?’ He said no. And America produces oil more
than any country? He said yes.
“So I asked him, ‘How do they do
it in America?’ and he said taxation and I decided that I will go by taxation
too.”
Joined by Peter Obi, his running
mate, Atiku fielded questions that ranged from the economy to security, health
and unemployment.”
He also criticised the current
administration for the delay in passing the petroleum industry governance bill
(PIGB).
Atiku, who said the level of
unemployment in the country is worrying, narrated his encounter with idle youth
during his campaign rallies.
He said if left unchecked the
lack of adequate jobs could create a bigger problem.
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What is the effectiveness on NEPA that he privatised and others?
ReplyDeleteThe only source that Nigeria is generating revenue from now.
Atiku is on a mission to kill Nigeria Finally. He said it already that he will make his friends rich when elected.