2019: Atiku under fire over ‘extravagant trip’ to Dubai with Obi, Ben Bruce, others
taken a swipe at the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for reportedly holding a strategy
session with members of his team in Dubai, UAE.
The Dubai meeting had in attendance, Atiku's running mate, Peter Obi
and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Also in the meeting were ex-Ogun Governor, Gbenga Daniel, ex-aide to
former President, Reno Omokri, Bayelsa East Senator, Ben Bruce among
others.
Reacting, however, the group said the development was a sad reminder
of Atiku's extravagant lifestyle.
Raymond Clarke Amuna, President of the group, said the development was
an indication to his dangerous tendency to hand Nigeria over to
foreign interests, with Dubai being his latest preference.
Amuna in the statement challenged the PDP candidate to explain to
Nigerians how he intends to run a domestic-oriented economy for the
masses with the kind of lavish lifestyle of taking his strategy team
with over 400 members to Dubai.
He warned that a vote for Atiku would definitely signal a return to
the era where even bottled water is imported into the country and
Nigerians will again be conditioned to believe that only things that
are foreign are good.
According to him, "Each time Atiku Abubakar considers slinking to
Dubai he should be mindful of how the opulence of the desert city
warps his sense of proprietary. He has never returned from his Dubai
trips lucid enough to accept the reality in Nigeria possibly because
his guilty conscience pricks him to know that the PDP could have done
better for Nigeria in its 16 years of misrule.
"There are various exotic venues in Nigeria that he could have used
and have members of his team spend money to boost the local economy
but he decided to expend his N20 million annual income in ferrying
Peter Obi, Secondus and other clowns in his circus to Dubai for the
strategy session. It is therefore not surprising that his team issued
the statement castigating the government for planning to use the
proceeds of privatization to fund the national budget.
"The first thing of note is that Atiku Abubakar, a onetime Vice
President (1999 to 2007) and by default the Chairman of the National
Economic Council (NEC) at the time, was the originator of
privatization or in layman's term selling government owned
enterprises, businesses and assets. It was under him that the chant of
"government has no business in business" or "government is incapable
of managing businesses" first gained ground and have remained a part
of our collective psyche today.
"This is why even as the nation continues to explore the
diversification of its revenue source under President Muhammadu
Buhari, people have been conditioned to the point that no one is
thinking of creating enterprises that will address unemployment and
revenue sources simultaneously.
"Secondly, Atiku Abubakar spoke from experience. He is not sure that
the national assets in question would be allocated to him and his
cronies as it was done under his watch when he held sway over the
privatization of most of the country's assets.
"He is therefore definitely waiting until such a time when he is
certain that he can acquire the same assets for pittance. His media
organization ranted on about how the assets to be sold were built by
the PDP without being able to list a single one of them, which implies
that the PDP candidate is claiming what he did not achieve."
Just yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari's Personal Assistant on
Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, rubbished the meeting between the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar
and his campaign team in Dubai.
No comments
Post a Comment