2023: Atiku unveils manifesto, promises unity govt, Bill on Restructuring on Day One
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, today in Lagos unveiled a “5-point development agenda” in the form of a document entitled “My covenant with Nigerians”.
The document, as obtained by The Lagos Times, was shared with members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) after a brief interractive session during which Atiku reiterated his commitment to restructuring the Nigerian federation, if elected as President, and to forward a Bill on this to the National Assembly (NASS) on his first day in office.
Alhaji Abubakar also promised to form a government of national unity, by appointing capable hands from opposition parties, as was done in 1999 when he was Vice President, and further promised to make sure every geo-political zone is represented in the headship of the nation’s security agencies.
The Lagos Times reports that in his opening remarks and while answering questions during the session, Atiku said he had constituted policy groups for each of his five areas of main focus, and his manifesto document, “My covenant with Nigerians” came out of the reports of the groups.
He listed the five areas of main focus as, Restoring unity and sense of belonging to all parts of Nigeria; Ensuring security of lives and property; Fixing the economy, particularly unemployment and inflation; Restructuring; and Education.
On Restructuring, Atiku said a team of legal experts he assembled have given him a draft legislation that he would present to the National Assembly on his first day in office.
He, however, emphasized that amending the Constitution to bring out the desired restructured Federation could not be done by the Executive arm alone, and requires the endorsement of both the National Assembly and State Assemblies.
To tackle insecurity, The Lagos Times reports that Atiku Abubakar said he would put more boots on the ground, train and retrain our police and other security personnel, and increase the number of their personnel significantly.
He promised to continue the economic policy of the Obasanjo administration of 1999 to 2007, explaining that this entails liberalization of the economy, further empowering the private sector, and continuing the privatization of public enterprises.
The PDP Presidential candidate, who said he first came to Lagos in 1969, described himself as a “Lagosian”, having resided in almost all parts of the city.
He was accompanied to the interactive session by PDP bigwigs, including Governor Udom Emmanual of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke, Senator Dino Melaye and Otunba Dele Momodu.
