November 02, (THEWILL) – Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, to apologise to Nigerians over their remarks at a meeting with the organised private sector.
A statement issued by Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to Abubakar, described remarks demeaning Atiku’s businesses in a gathering of entrepreneurs as gross irresponsibility and disrespect.
It added that at such gathering, it was expected of Tinubu and his running mate to seize the opportunity to proffer solutions to Nigeria’s woes, rather than attacking other presidential candidates.
The statement read: “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 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, 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 his 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.
“Shettima should apologise to Nigerian workers, especially the thousands that benefit from Atiku’s businesses for his irresponsible statement.
“Politics does not confer on anyone the license to make irresponsible statements.
“A gathering of the top echelons of the private sector was supposed to be an avenue for laying out serious policy choices. For Tinubu and Shettima on the contrary, they 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.
“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 has continued to call the attention of the nation to the need to diversify the economy away from heavy dependence on 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 succour to people who were worst hit by the attendant self-isolation regulation in the management of the pandemic.
“Tinubu, who has been in hibernation mode for the seven years that his party unleashed the worst moment of economic hardship on Nigerians, has suddenly found a voice because, as it is usual with the APC, the time is here again to hoodwink the people with sugarcoated promises.
“We, therefore, wish to remind the APC and their presidential candidate that, unlike them, the PDP and Atiku are promise keepers.
“Unlike the APC and Tinubu, Atiku has not waited until when election is around the corner to espouse solutions to the challenges facing the country.
“Unlike APC and Tinubu, Atiku’s position on the pathway to economic recovery of Nigeria has remained consistent ditto his views about restructuring, education, national inclusivity and engendering healthy national security.
“Unlike Tinubu and his APC, Nigerians know that Atiku and the PDP are more believable to deliver on their manifesto.
“It is a shame and, indeed, a source of embarrassment to all supporters of the APC that their national leader, who self-professes to be brilliant on the economy, prefers to be the chief priest at the APC altar where Nigeria’s economy was brought to comatose.”
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