The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, assured Nigerians that he would seek debt forgiveness and cancellation for Nigeria from international creditors if he is elected president next year.
He disclosed this while speaking on his recovery plan for Nigeria at the Lagos Business School 2022 Alumni Day in Lagos State.
Bearing his mind on a plethora of economic issues Nigeria is currently battling, the former vice president maintained the PDP achieved debt cancellation, privatization, banking reforms as well as an effective working partnership with the private sector between 1999-2007.
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.
He described Nigeria’s debt situation as a mess, saying he would fix it if he is elected president.
His said, “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 stabilize the economy, we will borrow less, and 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.”
Speaking on fuel subsidy, he noted how the PDP government had phased out subsidies in batches, saying: “I was the chairman for the removal of fuel subsidy committee and I recall how we removed the phase 1 and phase 2 of fuel subsidy. I will continue from where we stopped, remove fuel subsidy totally and channel the subsidy funds back into the economy. In other words, it’s just a fraud.”
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 by children of the poor for free.
