Why I insist on privatisation of some national assets-Atiku

By Tunde Opalana

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has insisted that selling some government assets to the private sector is the best for the country’s economy.

Atiku said this when replying to a question on why he is fixated on selling public assets which other leaders built with taxpayers’ money during the People’s Townhall, a live event organised by Channels Television and its partners on Sunday.

He said:“I am not fixated but I think that is best for the country. I mean, let’s be honest with ourselves, we have four refineries and they have seized functioning; I don’t know for how many years now and every year we budget money for overhauling the refineries that don’t work; please let’s give it to the private sector.

“In every great nation in this world, you find out that it is the private sector that is driving the economy, they provide the jobs, they provide the prosperity, and they do everything, why should we be different? So, I am not fixated.

“If you feel that is the best for you go and elect somebody who can come and leave them moribund, they are not working and you are spending money on them, tell me how they benefit the community or the society”.

The PDP flag bearer argued that selling off the four refineries that are not functioning while the government keeps budgeting for them yearly, will afford him the money to fund other pressing projects.

He claimed that he could make N10 billion from selling the refineries, saying the money will fund the small businesses which will, in turn, create employment and prosperity.

While insisting that the private sector has the necessary funding to build and maintain certain projects, Atiku said as President, he will also support them to build excellent hospitals in the country by giving them incentives.

The PDP presidential candidate also at The People’s Townhall, a live event of Channels Television in Abuja, on Sunday, criticised some of the social investment programmes of the administration of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, including TraderMoni and MarketMoni.

TraderMoni and MarketMoni – Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) initiatives launched in 2017 and 2018, respectively – were created to boost the country’s economy through leverage and access to finance for petty traders.

In the lead-up to the 2019 elections, the then-single-term Buhari administration came under fire for allegedly taking advantage of the programme for political gain.

Speaking at event, Atiku derided the current administration’s approach to offering support to entrepreneurs at the grassroots.

“I think the defect in the system is not incorporating the system into an institutionalised process because what I understood TraderMoni and Market (Moni) with either the Vice President going around distributing money or the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs going round and distributing money.

“Why not create institutions that can actually attend to every sector of the economy as far as this MarketMoni or TraderMoni is concerned? As we said, we are going to vote N10bn to boost small and medium enterprises.

“We have a number of institutions where such funding can be channelled so that it is institutionalised, instead of personalising it and also using it for political purposes because currently, MarketMoni and TraderMoni have become political tools to promote political interests of a particular political party,” he said.

Asked if he would scrap TraderMoni and MarketMoni, the former Vice President replied in the negative, reiterating his desire is a more effective social welfare system.

“What I am saying is that they should be incorporated into an institution, so that it survives every government that comes in,” he said.

“(The traders are not integrated) because there is no institution.

“If you have an institution to cater for that, the institution will be able to give everybody guidelines: ‘This is how to access these funds and this is how long it is going to take you to repair them and so on and so forth.’

Speaking further, the PDP presidential candidate laid out his plan to tackle the agitations by separatists including the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) if elected in the 2023 elections.

Atiku said the demands of pro-Biafra agitators were not beyond negotiation.

“The IPOB issue in the South-East is basically, as far as my understanding is concerned, about the realisation of Biafra. Is it possible for Biafra to be realised today? How? By negotiations or by going through another civil war, which we can’t afford to?

“I believe we should be able to negotiate with the agitators from the South-East, as far as the issue of Biafra is concerned. We believe what they need is more autonomy as far as their sub-region is concerned.

“That is why we proposed restructuring of the country, by which we mean devolution of more powers and resources. After all, there was Eastern Nigeria in the First Republic and they developed at their own pace and with their own resources,” he said.

Speaking on what he described as middle-of-the-road solutions, the former Vice President said he saw no reason restructuring and devolution of more powers and resources could not quell the various agitations of the separatist groups.

“The agitations are in different perspectives, to my understanding,” he said. “One of them is political and political has the sense of ‘how does the South-East participate in power sharing in the country?’ And we are in a democratic society.

“There is no one single geopolitical zone in this country that on its own can achieve political power without crossing the Niger or being in alliance with other geopolitical zones.

“I think this is what they should begin to think: How do they partner with other parts of the country to secure political power for their own interests or to protect their own interests. I think these are the ways to go as far as agitations by IPOB are concerned.”

In his remarks, Atiku’s running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa noted that strategic engagement was crucial, adding that the principle of inclusive governance could not be ruled out.

“I know that the South-East has continued to also agitate as a result of the fact that they don’t feel included. If you watch the security architecture of the current government, they don’t appear to play any major roles. So, they see themselves as ‘excluded’ as if they are not part of this nation.

“That is not the type of government that Atiku Abubakar wants to run. He’s going to run an all-inclusive government in which every segment of this country will have a feeling of being part of the government and the nation.

“I think that obviously will, to a very large extent, add on to the other steps that our presidential candidate will take by the time he assumes office on May 29, 2023,” he said.

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Atiku at town hall said he has met with his rival, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to resolve the lingering crisis within the party without any way forward.

Asked why he was yet to resolve the month-long imbroglio, he said: “I have met Wike two times in Port Harcourt, two times in Abuja, one time in London, personally.”

“It is not on my part; it is on the other side; I am waiting for him,” he said, without revealing the kernel of his discussions with the Rivers governor.