No matter how well-connected they are in the country, oil thieves and their allies won’t have anywhere to hide if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wins the election in 2019.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, made this commitment on Saturday in Lagos when he spoke with a variety of corporate Nigerians at the Eko Hotel under the auspices of the Business Dialogue Stakeholders Forum.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia, Femi Otedola, Tony Elumelu, Herbert Wigwe, and Muhammad Hayatudeen were among the session’s doyens of business.
In addition, Atiku pledged to seize all oil blocks given to Nigerians who have not made them operational in the name of the country’s development.
When elected to office, the former vice president pledged to maintain regular dialogue between the government and the nation’s business elite. He also highlighted how he would address the country’s, in his words, “ailing economy.”
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“We will take away your oil blocks and give them to those who will develop them if you don’t develop the ones we offer you. Additionally, we would compile a list of people responsible for oil theft, publish it, and bring legal action against them, Atiku promised the stakeholders.
Regarding his plans to expand the oil and gas industry, Atiku noted that the oil production quota was set to rise to four million barrels per day during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
When he is elected to government the next year, he said, the plan would be revived and sustained beyond the anticipated amount, adding that to accomplish this successfully, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and any other enabling laws would be used.
“We started this process back when we were in government. But there were bumps in the road. The legislation that would have encouraged IOC participation in the sector could not be passed. We shall return to our starting point, he declared.
The projects, which were initiated under the Obasanjo government, will receive more attention under him, he continued. If there is a chance, we will proceed. Joint ventures are advantageous since they are investor-driven, as you are aware, he continued.
I swear to God, I’ll privatize them, he said, reiterating his vow to privatizing the refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri.
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With regard to the N20 trillion way and means balance, monetary policy, and foreign exchange issues that the nation is now facing, Atiku stated, “I believe that we should have a forex strategy that allows a convergence. I disagree with the existing multiple-foreign-currency policy.
He stated that loopholes in the oil production process will be closed in order to stabilize the foreign exchange regime, underlining that he would support local production and “not regulate public expenditure.”
“Whether or not the Nigerian economy is dollarized depends on how strong or weak our economy is. You won’t require the dollar if our economy is strengthened. The quantity of new employment created and exports can support the naira, he claimed.
“Monetary policy and other related matters would be liberalized,” he stated, “and it would be such that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would be independent. Without stable prices, no one benefits from the economy, and it is impossible to eradicate poverty and create jobs.
“Despite the fact that inflation is a worldwide phenomena and the result of high demand and low supply, the CBN will accept responsibility for delivering price stability.
While noting that “some of these economic and financial issues existed in 1999,” the PDP presidential candidate said: “But none of them prohibits the CBN from carrying out its responsibility of price stability and single window fiscal system.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act was passed thanks to our efforts (FRA). We made an effort to schedule debt payback, and we were successful. You can trust us to take care of the cure issues if we did that.
He continued, saying that it is troubling that “the country is heading backwards,” and that you “should believe that we can bring the monetary policy back on track.”
“This will have serious effects on long-term growth and employment creation. The major industries are either increasing slowly or not at all. There are serious financial difficulties. The industrial industry is losing ground. 133 million Nigerians are classified as multidimensionally poor, which means they have limited access to housing, healthcare, education, and other amenities. These are the reasons we’re talking to you right now, he said.
In his remarks, PDP vice presidential candidate Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa listed a number of issues the Niger Delta region is currently dealing with, including community unrest, high-powered illegal bunkering, and oil pipeline breaches by vandals. He added that the Atiku administration would implement technology-driven surveillance as well as other measures to address these issues.
Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP’s national chairman, thanked business Nigeria for attending and reassured them that they were speaking with the proper party. “There will be ongoing discussion. Not if, but when, we take over next year, we will continue to interact with you,” he declared.
The Chairman and Director General of the Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign team, Governors Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto states, respectively, pleaded with the stakeholders to back Atiku for a better Nigeria.
