THE ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who had a moment ago advocated diversification of the economy to cushion the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
The former Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in his piece titled “How to Pull Nigeria from the Brink”, grumbled over the rising foreign debts and cautioned that except the economy is diversified to agriculture against total dependence on oil, a colossal danger looms for the economy.
Acknowledging the advice, the APC in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu reminded Atiku that not only was he a key figure in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight years administration but he headed the National Council of Privatization (NCP) as chairman and never conceived let alone practiced what he is now advocating when the diversification gathers momentum.
While the ruling party welcomed Atiku’s sudden alignment with Buhari administration’s policy direction in terms of diversifying the economy, APC wondered why the former Vice President never appreciated the Buhari-led administration’s energy in diversifying the economy in the last five years.
APC further explained that the recent closure of the country’s borders which the opposition profusely condemned and the anchor borrowers’ programme are strategic policies of the President Buhari-led administration to boost the agriculture sector.
The statement reads in part;
“While we appreciate that Atiku Abubakar is keying into this administration’s policy direction regarding diversification, we are only worried that it took him 13 years after leaving office to realize that the Government under which he served as the Vice President was short-sighted for its failure to faithfully diversify the Nigerian economy.
“Not to be confused, Atiku Abubakar had eight years as a powerful Vice President and Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation with vantage opportunity to lead the country away from its dependence on oil. How Nigeria got worse even when international oil prices were stable and high are matters Atiku Abubakar may still need to address in future.
“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar may wish to know that the policy he has unfortunately chosen to label as “insane” has led to a significant spike in rice production across the country, opening up of hundreds of rice mills, indigenous manufacturing firms are sourcing their raw materials locally, boom in poultry farming, with Nigerians now patronizing locally made food items like never before and, in the process, boosting the income of farmers and local producers.
“It is heart-warming to know we are coping well as the Coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdowns are testing our country’s capacity to feed itself. We have been able to meet the pandemic induced surge in demand for foods only because the APC administration has been implementing policies targeted at expanding the capacity of our farmers and the other players in the allied industries.
“We ask Atiku Abubakar; where would we have gotten the farm produce for palliatives and feed our people during the lockdown if we had not taken the courageous route of looking inwards while curtailing sabotage from neighbouring economies?
“In the areas of plugging revenue leakages, curbing waste, diversifying and growing the economy, budgeting, borrowings, ease of doing business, support of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), the President Muhammadu Buhari government is matching electoral promises with actions”.