The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has said that a hiding place will cease to exist for oil thieves and their accomplices no matter how highly placed in the country, if he takes power in 2023.
Atiku made his pledge yesterday in Lagos, when he interacted with a broad spectrum of corporate Nigeria, under the aegis of ‘Business Dialogue Stakeholders Forum’, which was held at Eko Hotel.
Among the doyens of industry at the session were: Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia, Femi Otedola, Tony Elumelu, Herbert Wigwe and Muhammad Hayatudeen, among others.
Atiku also said he would, in the interest of national development, confiscate all oil bloc allocated to some Nigerians who had failed to make them operational.
The former vice-president, who promised to sustain frequent interactive sessions between the Government and the country’s business class when voted to power, equally outlined the ways he would tackle what he described as an ailing economy.
On his plans to boost the oil and gas sector, Atiku noted that under the administration of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, the quota of oil production was earmarked for increase to four million barrels per day.
That plan, he explained, would be resuscitated and sustained beyond the projected figure, when he is voted into office next year, pointing out that in order to do this successfully, the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, and any other enabling law would be invoked.
He reiterated his commitment to privatising the refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri, saying, “I swear to God, I’ll privatise them”, he told the entrepreneurs.
In his remarks, the PDP vice-presidential candidate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who listed some problems facing the Niger Delta region as community agitations, high powered illegal bunkering and breaching of oil pipelines by vandals, said the Atiku administration would embark on technology-driven surveillance and other solutions to tackle the problems.
The PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, expressed his appreciation to Corporate Nigeria for gracing the occasion, assuring them that they were engaging with the right party. “There is going to be continuing dialogue. When we take over power next year, not if, we will continue to engage you,” he said.
Both Governors Udom Emmanuel and Aminu Tambuwal, of Akwa-Ibom and Sokoto States; who are the Chairman and Director-General of the Atiku/Okowa presidential campaign team, urged the stakeholders to support Atiku for a better Nigeria.
