APC commends Atiku’s suggestions on diversification

…Expresses shock over ex -VP’s failure to acknowledge Buhari’s achievements

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has commended former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over his suggestions to the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration on the need to diversify Nigeria’s economy.

However, the party expressed reservation that the former Vice President failed to acknowledge the bold efforts the Buhari administration has made in the last five years towards diversification of the economy and the many positive gains the country has recorded.

While appreciating that Atiku is keying into the administration’s policy direction regarding diversification, the APC was worried that it took him 13 years after leaving office to realise that the government under which he served as the Vice President was short-sighted for its failure to faithfully diversify the Nigerian economy.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa – Onilu, the party reminded Atiku that he served eight years as Vice President and chairman of the National Council on Privatisation with vantage opportunity to lead the country away from its dependence on oil.

The statement reads in part: “the APC welcomes Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s concerns and the fact that he is beginning to make a good attempt at sounding like a statesman.

“Going forward, this is the least we expect from him, even as we hope that he will be more forthcoming in future, in appreciating and commending the positive steps, while offering suggestions on what more can be done.

“We however, urge him to continue to do this without sounding overtly sanctimonious.”

While asking Atiku to explain how Nigeria got worse even when international oil prices were stable and high, the APC took time to educate the former Vice President on the several policies the Buhari administration has introduced since 2015 to diversify Nigeria’s economy.

According to the party, measures introduced by President Muhammadu Buhari include the Anchor Borrowers Programme, an intervention policy primarily aimed at giving farmers access to finance launched in 2016 which entails the provision of credit for financing the production of rice, wheat, ginger, maize and soybeans in many states of the federation.

“This policy driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria is an initiative that has, in the last four years, provided hundreds of billions of naira for rice farming, cultivation and milling.

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“Few years down the line, Nigeria is now rated the highest producer of rice in Africa, producing over seven million tonnes per annum.

“And just late last year, the APC-led government through the CBN has also made available huge funds to our cotton farmers, a move geared towards reviving our moribund textile factories thereby creating millions of direct and indirect jobs.

“Also, as part of the efforts of the President Buhari-led administration to boost agriculture is the massive successes recorded in the local production of fertiliser.

“This was one policy personally driven by the President and which has received applause from even his most virulent critics.

“This policy, which is built on a partnership between Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco, has led to the resuscitation of 11 blending plants producing about 1.3million tonnes of fertiliser, creation of over 50,000 direct and 150,000 indirect jobs, in addition to farmers having timely access to the product at an affordable price.

“The contributions of agriculture to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has consistently been on the increase and is being captured by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in the last four years,” the party pointed out.