I’ll sell NNPC, if elected president, Atiku insists

A cross-section of party faithful during the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders Town Hall Meeting in Kaduna ...yesterday. •INSET: From left: Former Vice President Namadi Sambo; PDP National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus and the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at the meeting.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar yesterday in Kaduna reiterated his resolve to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), if elected President in Saturday’s polls.

Atiku, who spoke while interacting with stakeholders from the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State at the Trade Fair Complex, said his resolve to sell the national asset was informed by the fact that NNPC has since inception in 1963 failed to meet its expectation of refining crude oil for the country’s consumption.

He insisted that he would sell off the NNPC to provide more development.

His decision, Atiku added, was based on the fact that only very few were benefiting from the operations of the national asset at the expense of the Nigerian people.

Towards this, Atiku challenged President Muhammadu Buhari, who is equally the Minister of Petroleum, to relinquish the running of the NNPC to ordinary people to show his level of sincerity.

He said contrary to the widespread rumours that he would sell the NNPC to himself, “the NNPC will be sold to Nigerians with money to buy it.”

Atiku added that PDP under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration has made many Nigerians millionaires.

“Its 63 years that Nigeria found crude. But up till now, we are yet to refine petrol and kerosene by ourselves. We have refinery in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt ,but saboteurs stopped them from working. “

He also said his government would not be run by any cabal as is being experienced by the present government.

He averred that the present government of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has inflicted the nation with pains and poverty because, according to him, the President was not in-charge.

On his part, the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus told the  state stakeholders to resist every form of provocation to warrant postponement of election in the state.

According to him, “The governor is running from one place to another seeking federal support to shift election; all such efforts will fail.”