Atiku and Obi at the Candidates Debate on Thursday
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, said he would probe military top officials as a way of solving the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east if elected president of Nigeria on February 16.
Abubakar unfolded the amnesty programme at a town hall meeting tagged: ‘’The Candidates”, organised by the MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with NTA and DARIA media on Thursday in Abuja.
Atiku also said that his government would be willing to investigate the military top commanders as a way of tackling the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, if elected.
He said that his government would not hesitate to deal with any senior officer who failed in his duty after being adequately funded by his government.
“We cannot continue to accept that kind of situation whereby commanders lose lives, lose equipment to terrorists and then nothing happens to them,’’ he said.
The PDP presidential candidate also said that he would be willing to investigate the report of Amnesty International indicting the military on allegations of genocide.
He stressed the need for government to invest more in education and health sectors as well as to bring in more private investors to compliment governments programmes in the health sector.
He said that if re-elected he would resend a bill to the National Assembly to prosecute any government official at any level that mismanaged education funds.
Asked if he would accept the outcome of the forthcoming presidential election if he lost, Abubakar said he would only do so if the election was credible”
Atiku also dismissed allegation that he used his position in the Nigerian Customs Service to enrich himself.
He also refuted allegations that one of his wives had a case of money laundering to face in the United States of America, and could therefore, not travel abroad since the allegation.
Abubakar, in the town hall meeting, however, refuted the allegation, saying his wife had never been indicted or accused of such offence.
“My Wife has not been indicted and she has not been charged, so there is no way you can hold her accountable, she has been traveling to America very often,“ he said.
On the issue of farmers and herdsmen clashes, Abubakar said there was need to enlighten the herders on feeding lots.
“There is need for extensive public sensitisation of these herders to adopt this solution to minimize this crisis,’’ adding that this would not only reduce the crises, as it would also increase their income.
On the allegation that he paid less tax, Abubakar said what he paid was his personal income tax, while his companies paid their taxes also to government.
He added that there may be mistake in the privatisation done under his eight years when he was vice president “but the programme was a success.’’
He said his administration would grant amnesty to those indicted of corruption if they retune their looted funds as the government would need all the money it can get to fix the economy
His running mate, Mr Peter Obi, said that the PDP government invested heavily in the power sector but that APC government had not invested anything in the sector.
“If you say that the PDP spent $16 billion and there is no power, it is not true,” Obi said. NAN
