APC destroyed Nigeria, must not stay in power beyond 2023 – Atiku

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday berated the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the present situation in the country.

Atiku, who addressed his supporters during the party’s presidential campaign rally at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, the Edo State capital, said the APC has made a mess of the nation’s economy, security, education, and other critical sectors.

He insisted that the APC does not deserve to stay in power beyond 2023.

The former Vice President promised to guarantee state police if elected the country’s president next year.

Atiku said: “You have seen how APC destroyed this country, destroyed the economy of this country. They have destroyed your educational opportunities. They have destroyed your job opportunities. APC is not a party to be supported.

“Therefore, we call on you to continue to be loyal to PDP and PDP will be loyal to you.

“I want to thank the Edo people for sticking together with PDP. Now, today we are before you to reiterate our commitment, our five-program commitment to the people of this country.

“One, we have promised to reunify this country. What do we mean by that? We mean we are going to give each and every part of this country a sense of belonging. You will not be excluded from anything. That is why we are being referred to as unifiers of our great nation.

“Two, we promise to restore security. Whatever it is going to take us to do, we are going to restore security in this country so that you can travel day and night, so that you can go to your farms, so that you can go anywhere secured.

“We will put more policemen on the streets. We will equip them; we will fortify them, and since we have promised to devolve more powers to the states and local governments, you can also have your own local police. We shall make sure your local police don’t harass you.

READ ALSO: PDP defends Atiku over alleged tribal statement, accuses APC of nepotism, thuggery

“Three, we will send back all our eligible children to school. They must go to school; every child must go to school. If you remember, during the PDP years, we established compulsory primary school education from primary to secondary school and we are asking Nigerians to educate these children.

“But this government is not keeping to that promise. We promise you; every child must go to school and our universities will not go on strike, we promise you that one by the grace of God.

“Again, we promise to revive the economy of this country. We will make sure that our industries, our factories, resume production in this country. We will make sure that there are enough jobs for our youths who are passing out of school.

“This is what we mean by reviving the economy. We will work together with the private sector to make sure that industries, factories particularly here in Edo resume operations so that there will be enough jobs for you.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now