Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has promised to return Nigeria to its status as Africa’s top recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) if he is elected President of the country in 2019.
Atiku said this in a statement he personally signed on Wednesday, which was made available to BusinessDay by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe. Atiku said he received with a very heavy heart the news that the Republic of Ghana has overtaken Nigeria as West Africa’s largest recipient of foreign direct investment.
“For all the years that the Peoples Democratic Party governed Nigeria, including the eight years of which I was Vice President, Nigeria always set the pace for Africa in terms of foreign direct investment and became the number one recipient of FDI in Africa in 2013 under a PDP administration. In that year, we also became Africa’s largest economy, thanks to the PDP’s leadership.
“As a businessman and employer of labour, I am disappointed that a nation with 15% of our population has outperformed us in this area. This is an economic emergency that must be addressed.
“Sadly, this unfortunate economic indicator has escaped the attention of the current administration, who are more interested in hounding real and imagined opponents, like the Chief Justice of Nigeria and many legislators, than in addressing the rapid economic decline Nigeria is witnessing under their watch,” he said.
The Wazirin Adamawa stressed that he foresaw this happening, which was why he visited the United States last week to get foreign investors who have been divesting from Nigeria, to return their investments. He added that prior to his US trip, he had undertaken similar missions in Europe and the Orient.
“It is of particular importance to understand why Nigeria has become an economic pariah under the present administration leading to us becoming the world headquarters for extreme poverty. When you have a leader who habitually travels abroad to de-market his own nation and its economy, things like this are bound to happen.
“It is further exacerbated when that same leader stubbornly blames his predecessors for problems he caused, while at the same time taking credit for achievements and progress initiated and delivered by those same leaders he makes a habit of denigrating,” Atiku said.
He pointed out that economic challenges will bow only to proper agenda, adding that “Propaganda has no effect on them and will only make a bad situation worse, as we see today.”
“Therefore, I solemnly declare to Nigerians, that if I am elected President on February 16, 2019, I will be Nigeria’s Chief Marketing Officer, and will never speak ill of our economy, our polity and our youths. My utterances, both at home and abroad, will be used to lift Nigeria’s economy because Atiku means JOBS.
” I believe in JOBS – Jobs, Opportunity, Being United and Security and it is time to get Nigeria Working Again.
“I, therefore, make this promise to all Nigerians, elect me, and I assure you the good people of Nigeria, that we will regain our status as Africa’s top recipient of FDI,” he said.
