Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, has cautioned Kashim
Shettima, vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
against being “irresponsible and disrespectful”.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) said in light of a recent comment by Shettima, the administration of Bola
Tinubu will be “anti-entrepreneurship” if he wins the 2023 election.
Shettima had criticised one of the businesses of Abubakar at
an event in Lagos, saying being an owner of a table water company does not mean
he understands the economy.
“And believe me, the ability to sell bottled water doesn’t
make one an expert on the economy,” Shettima had said.
In a statement issued on Wednesday night by Paul Ibe, his
media adviser, Abubakar said any business that employs workers should be
valued.
Abubakar said politics should not make anyone utter
“irresponsible statements”.
“It is with utter dismay that we listened to the
presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu and his running mate talk
condescendingly about other presidential candidates at a gathering that they
invited members of the private sector to on Tuesday,” the statement reads.
“The remarks from the
candidates of the APC show gross irresponsibility and disrespect.
“It is indicative that the Tinubu-Shettima administration
will be anti-entrepreneurship and business.
“One would have thought that the duo would use the advantage
of such a gathering to talk about solutions that their party, APC, has foisted
on the country. Rather, they went on the ultra highway of political indecency.
“Any business that produces products, creates jobs and
delivers dividends, especially in this era of the APC administration when the
country is bleeding jobs is an asset and should not be mocked.
“It is irrelevant if
it is a small business or a big business. And for Shettima, it is more shameful
that he will denigrate a going business that employs a large chunk of people in
the Northeast region.
“Even Atiku’s opponents have acknowledged the business
resume that has seen him being engaged in businesses covering farming, animal
feed, beverages, banking, logistics, polymer and plastics, education, among
others employing thousands directly and hundreds of thousands indirectly.”
The PDP presidential candidate said Shettima should
apologise to Nigerians, especially those who benefit from his business.
“Politics does not confer on anyone the license to make
irresponsible statements,” Abubakar said.
He said Shettima should have used the opportunity of the
gathering to discuss what he and Tinubu intend to do for Nigerians.
He said Shettima “chose to embarrass their guests, using
their audience to play vile political games”.
“For someone who
self-appoints as the APC national leader, it is ridiculous that the
presidential candidate of the APC failed to proffer solutions to the economic
woes that his party has foisted on Nigerians in the past seven years,” the
statement reads.
“Unlike Tinubu who sat idly by and watched his APC ruin
Nigeria to the current sorry state, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar has been consistent in proffering solutions to
the myriads of ineffective policy options of the APC administration.
“Atiku, it was, who
first raised the alarm about the debt burden that the APC has thrown Nigeria
into. It was also Atiku who continued to call the attention of the nation to
the need to diversify the economy away from heavy dependence on the exploration
of crude oil. Atiku, again, was the one who said that the quickest path to lift
the majority of Nigerians out of the poverty belt, is for the government to
give incentives to the private sector in order for them to create more jobs for
Nigerians.
“Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Atiku pioneered the
private donor relief funds, which opened the gateway for other Nigerians of
means to follow suit in providing succor to people who were worst hit by the
attendant self-isolation regulation in the management of the pandemic.”
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