The former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has stated that Nigeria must do something different in order to attain peace in the New Year 2022.
Atiku stated this in a New Year message he personally signed on Friday, saying “we must seek to do something different and, in doing so, let us become peace ambassadors of God. Hate and strife never build a nation. They even destroy the individual faster. Rather, unity and understanding bind a nation together.”
He further noted that Nigerians needed a new awakening to move forward.
Atiku said, “this New Year, 2022 promises to be a remarkable one. It is one year that is filled with hope and optimism. It is one year that comes with a unique opportunity for us to redefine the remainder of this decade. Moving forward into the decade of the 2020s, our New Year resolution should be about eschewing divisive and parochial tendencies and embracing inclusion and the general good.
We cannot continue to kick the same can down the road, yet again. We need a reawakening. And it is a reawakening that must invigorate our unity as one people of one good country.
“Unlike hate and strife, an individual that chooses a life of unity and common understanding finds inner peace and love.
“While I congratulate Nigerians on this New Year, 2022, let me urge us all to the task of washing our hands off every molecule of hate and strife and immerse our hearts in unity, love, and peace”.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday adjourned a suit challenging former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s eligibility to vie for the country’s presidency till December 6.
The judge adjourned the matter following the inability of the parties in the suit to regularise their amended processes to accommodate the Adamawa State Attorney-General, who had been joined in the case.
The Adamawa State government had on July 27 sought the court’s order to be joined in the suit.
A group simply known as the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA) had in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/177/2019 asked the court to stop Atiku who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election from vying for the nation’s highest political office in 2023.
EMA insisted that the ex-Vice President was not eligible to contest for presidency because he was not a Nigerian by birth.
The group asked the court to hold among others, that considering the provisions of sections 25(1) &(2) and 131(a) of the 1999 Constitution and the circumstances surrounding the politician’s birth he cannot contest for the presidency.
Atiku, PDP, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) were listed as respondents in the suit.
At Monday’s proceedings, the EMA’s counsel, Raphael Oyewole, said though the matter was slated for hearing, the motion for the extension of time has not been filed because he was yet to serve some of the parties in the suit.
The judge, who was unhappy over the handling the case by the plaintiff’s counsel, said: “This is a matter you filed since 2019, and you are just filing your processed this morning after the last adjournment.”
He adjourned the matter till December 6 for mention.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that the escalating rate of insecurity in the country is caused by the high rate of youth unemployment.
Atiku made this assertion via a statement on Sunday, March 28, titled ‘World’s Highest Unemployment Rate: Time To Help This Government Help Nigeria.’
This was in response to a report by Bloomberg which predicted that Nigeria will emerge as the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth.
According to him, Nigeria got to this current situation due to the abandonment of policies implemented by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo under which he served as Vice President.
Atiku said, “I have never felt so bad at being proven right, as I am by the report from Bloomberg Business on Saturday, March 27, 2021, that Nigeria is to emerge as the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, at just over 33%.
We warned about this, but repeated warnings by myself and other patriots were scorned. And now this.
“How did Nigeria get here? We got here by abandoning the people-centred leadership and free trade and deregulatory policies of the Obasanjo years (which saw us maintain an almost single-digit unemployment rate) and implementing discredit command and control policies that have led to massive capital flight from Nigeria.
“And with the paucity of funds, we continue to ramp up government involvement in sectors that ought to be left to the private sector, with the latest being the ill-advised $1.5 billion so-called rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery that has failed to turn a profit for years.
What this government must realise is that the unprecedented insecurity Nigeria is facing is the result of youth unemployment.
“Idleness is the worst feature of unemployment because it channels the energy of our youth away from production, and towards destruction, and that is why Nigeria is now the third most terrorised nation on Earth.
“Now, how do we address this challenge?
“In 2020, I recommended that to immediately and drastically bring down youth unemployment, every family in Nigeria with at least one school-age child, and earning less than $800 per annum should receive a monthly stipend of 5000 Naira from the government via their BVN and NIN on the condition that they verifiably keep their children in school.
My recommendation still stands and stands even stronger now that we have crossed the rubicon in youth unemployment.
Atiku said if 13.5 million out of school children could be enrolled in schools, Nigeria could turn the corner in one generation.
“If we do not do this, then the floodgates of unemployment will be further opened next year, and in the years to come,” he said.
“We can no longer say we cannot afford this. We can.
Recall that in 20 years ending 2020, the NLNG had delivered $18.3 billion dividends to government irrespective of taxes and other benefit accruals to the country.
“This will not only free the government of needless spending but also clean up the infrastructure mess in the petroleum downstream sector.
“I say this because the fastest way to bring down a world record unemployment rate is via incentivised education. An educated citizenry is more employable and more self employable.”
Former Vice President and presidential candidate in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed the Federal Government as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), over its order to banks to shout down cryptocurrency operations.
Atiku, in a statement on Saturday, faulted the apex bank over the policy, noting that with the present economic downturn in the country, Nigerians need all the help they can get to get out of the present economic quagmire.
In a statement titled, “We Need To Open Up Our Economy, Not Close It,” Atiku said the policy came at a very wrong time.
“This is definitely the wrong time to introduce policies that will restrict the inflow of capital into Nigeria, and I urge that the policy to prohibit the dealing and transaction of cryptocurrencies be revisited,” he said.
“The number one challenge facing Nigeria is youth unemployment. In fact, it is not a challenge, it is an emergency. It affects our economy, and is exacerbating insecurity in the nation.
“What Nigeria needs now, perhaps more than ever, are jobs and an opening up of our economy, especially after reports by the National Bureau of Statistics indicating that foreign capital inflow into Nigeria is at a four year low, having plummeted from $23.9 billion in 2019, to just $9.68 billion in 2020.
“Already, the nation suffered severe economic losses from the border closure, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is possible to regulate the sub sector and prevent any abuse that may be inimical to national security. That may be a better option than an outright shutdown.
“There is already immense economic pressure on our youths. It must be the job of the government, therefore, to reduce that pressure, rather than adding to it.
“We must create jobs in Nigeria. We must expand the economy. We must remove every impediment towards investments. We owe the Nigerian people that much.”
Atiku hopes Nigerians will soon have access to the vaccines to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The 2019 presidential candidate received the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, according to a report by TheCable.
Atiku receiving covid19 vaccine in Dubai.
“The importance of the #COVID19 vaccine in mitigating the effect of the coronavirus cannot be overstated, particularly in Africa and Nigeria,” his spokesperson Paul Ibe said.
He said Atiku, 74, looks forward to when Nigerians, especially medical professionals in the frontline and the most vulnerable, will be vaccinated. Since COVID-19 was first detected in China in December 2019, it has infected over 87 million people and killed nearly 1.9 million across the world.
Vaccines were deployed in a few countries late in 2020 after a couple of them were confirmed to be over 90% effective against the virus.
Nigeria hopes to start a mass vaccination campaign at the end of January, with the delivery of 42 million doses of the vaccine expected by the end of the year.
That figure is expected to inoculate less than half of the nation’s estimated population of 200 million.
Since Nigeria’s first case was detected last February, over 92,000 cases have been recorded, with a feared second wave of infections kicking off in December.
Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, on Monday signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill of N141.6 billion into law.
Bagudu had on November 27, presented the budget of N141.6 billion for 2021 to the state House of Assembly.
The budget had over N92.2 billion as capital expenditure while N49.5 billion was for recurrent expenditure, representing 65 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.
While signing the budget in Birnin Kebbi, the governor noted that the budget was graciously approved and passed by the state’s house of assembly.
Bagudu, who prayed that the 2021 budget performance would be better than 2020, described this year as a tough one globally because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Governor Atiku Bagudu
“But locally, it is also tough for us because of other factors, particularly the flood disasters that affected the state,” he added.
He also lamented the inability of the state to get the expected internally generated revenue, making it difficult for the government to deliver on its promise of providing citizens’ basic needs.
“Our inability to collect the revenue has been a major challenge, and no matter how noble the executive wished to be, it could not deliver the much expected dividends to the people.
“But in spite of the limited resources, we have been able to still deliver on some of those promises we made to the people.
“I am glad President Muhammadu Buhari has led us very well, and we have been able to deliver to a certain extent, but obviously there is need for more resources to support the bigger dreams and opportunities,” he said.
He, however, said the state had recovered from the flood, and had procured fertiliser to be distributed to farmers who had been affected by the disaster by first week of January, 2021.
“We want to do more than we did in 2019 in agriculture, we are encouraging the executives at other levels to encourage local government areas to guide us on how to do more than that.
“The experience we had from the flood disaster has shown that we need to invest in the upland rice production, and we need to start early because the production begins in the dry season.
“And to do that, we have to secure seedlings and ensure they are are distributed much earlier before the start of the rainy season,” he said.
The governor also commended the house of assembly for the speedy passage of the budget and for its support to the state government in order to deliver on the people’s mandate.
Earlier, Speaker of the house, Alhaji Abdulmumuni Kamba, commended the governor for his commitment towards developing the state.
“We had worked tirelessly; day and night, in order to fulfill the promise we made to ensure a speedy passage of the budget, and it was passed on Dec. 26, and we are delighted to present it for your assent into law.
“We pray God Almighty to bless your efforts and those of the house for our dear state to move forward,” Kamba added.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has appealed to Nigerians to keep faith with his party, the People Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku speaking through his twitter handle on Monday said his party is the best friend Nigeria could have.
While taking a shot at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku said all the 6 geopolitical zones deserve a party that believes in Nigeria.
“The @OfficialPDPNig has much to offer all parts of Nigeria, and I urge all Nigerians in all zones to keep faith with a party that has kept faith with Nigeria and will be equitable to all.
“The Peoples Democratic Party is the best friend Nigeria could have. All geopolitical zones deserve a political party that believes in Nigeria and not a party that believes otherwise.”
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
