State of the Nation Address by Atiku Abubakar at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre

STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS BY ATIKU ABUBAKAR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) AT THE SHEHU MUSA YAR’ADUA CENTRE, MONDAY, JANUARY 28TH, 2019

Yet again, our dear country is passing through a difficult moment. How we react to this challenge in the following days will determine the fate of our democracy, which has been brought to great peril by this needless crisis engineered by a government that is unwilling to subject its conducts to the requirements of our constitution.

Meanwhile, I commend all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria who have expressed outrage over the unlawful removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, an action, which constitutes a flagrant breach of our constitution and a frontal assault on our democracy. I want to note the universal condemnation of this unlawful act by all Nigerians, as well as the international community.

I need to state that this latest action by General Muhammadu Buhari falls squarely within the pattern of executive lawlessness that has now been firmly turned into statecraft by the APC government.

The serial disregard of court orders, and consequent violation of constitutionally guaranteed human rights of our citizens confirms beyond all doubt that General Buhari and his government would rather obey their own whims and operate by separate rules outside the well-established constitutional order and the rule of law. It scarcely requires emphasis that this behaviour is alien to democratic rule and more in line with that of a military dictator.

Without doubt, the fight against corruption is crucial to good governance and the progress of our country. In this context, the issue of corruption as it relates to the institution of the judiciary is even more crucial. As the last refuge of the common man, our judiciary must not only be above suspicion but must also be seen to be manifestly above board. The issue at stake is not whether the Chief Justice is guilty or not, but whether his removal from office has been done in accordance with the process specified in our constitution.

As a democrat, I must say, without equivocation, that no mission or goal, no matter how noble or well intended, should be used as a pretext for the subversion of our democracy and our democratic institutions. To create a condition that allows the constitution and the rule of law to become secondary to any other agenda is to pave the way for tyranny. History is replete with odious dictators whose path to dictatorship started with statements of good intentions. We must therefore remain vigilant in defense of our democracy.

We are all witnesses to how this government has serially assaulted the National Assembly, a separate arm of government that represents the bastion of our democracy. However, with this attack on the judiciary, General Buhari has set a new precedent in our democracy that has no equivalence in our history, not even in the darkest days of military dictatorship. This cannot be allowed to stand.

At this juncture, I must warn the APC government to desist from taking actions that may push us further down the slippery slope towards a major constitutional crisis that could derail the electoral process. General Muhammadu Buhari must remember that he is a beneficiary of a free and fair election. It is therefore a matter of honour for him to allow a political environment and process that gives confidence to everyone.

All my life, I have been a democrat and a defender of democracy. Like all men of good conscience and patriots, I believe this present challenge has imposed on us yet again, the duty to rise in peaceful defense of democracy, for which so many have laid down their lives. I also know that the surest weapon against tyranny is the democratic will of the people. Nigerians have consistently demonstrated their preference for democracy, and I am, and will always remain, on the side of the people of Nigeria.

I conclude by expressing, once again, my gratitude to the international community for standing by our country in this challenging time. However, the primary responsibility to resist tyranny and protect democracy in Nigeria ultimately lies with Nigerians. It is on this note that I call on all Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the coming general elections to vote in defense of democracy and the rule of law.

We must vote out this anti-democratic government and restore our country to the path of true democracy, which is the surest way to ensure progress and prosperity for our people.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. God bless you all.

Atiku to Buhari: World watching you

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has, in what he described as a warning to both President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, said that there would be no room for rigging on February 16th especially as he said that the world is watching the developments in the country.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, in response to the Federal Government’s reaction to the US, UK and EU over the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Walter Onnoghen, the former Vice President warned that anyone planning to rig the 2019 election may as well be toying with the very foundation of the nation’s democracy.

According to the statement, “Buhari’s cabal is unhappy  with the statements from the US, the British and the EU because they know that these world powers have agreed  to re-route their latest and most technologically sophisticated spy satellites, including the NAOL-47 satellite, to provide comprehensive coverage over Nigeria on February 16.  The photographs which these satellites will deliver can not only show someone reading a newspaper but also which newspaper they are reading.”

He said “the Federal Government had in statement through Garba Shehu stated that, ‘the nation’s security forces will confront any attempt to interfere with the process by elements from outside the country.’”

The PDP candidate expressed concerns over what he described as “the desperation of the APC to rig the forthcoming elections.”

He however, advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the military and the police not to allow themselves to be used by those he said are interested in turning Nigeria’s democracy on its head.

According to him, “The truth is that, there is no country in the world where a president with this appalling record could ever be re-elected.  Over 100 million Nigerians cannot afford even one decent meal a day, yet their president is seeking re-election.

“The world powers, as well as Nigerians, also have intelligence that Buhari will decisively lose the elections since the people are angry because they are hungry and have no jobs.

“There is no level of rigging that this vile government could ever do to overturn the millions of Nigerians who will turn up at the polls to vote him out.

“We ask our dearest young population who got a job under Buhari in the last four (4)years, to vote for Buhari.  But all those who lost their jobs and whose relations lost their jobs and businesses to his maladministration should please come out in large numbers to elect Atiku Abubabar who is a harbinger of job creation,” the statement said.

#PDPKadunaRally: Sea of heads in Kaduna for Atiku

Hurricane Atiku Abubakar in Kaduna.. Thank you good people of Kaduna for turning out in massive numbers. You have shown you want a #BetterNigeria and want to #GetNigeriaWorkingAgain. Pics story:

#JigawaPDPRally: Mammoth Crowd grace Atiku’s Campaign flag-off in Jigawa

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has promised that if elected, he would not disappoint Nigerians like the government of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Addressing massive crowd supporters at PDP Presidential Campaign rally in Dutse, Jigawa state capital, Waziri Adamawa said “you all know my friend, your former governor, Alh Sule Lamido, do you no him? He knows me and if you all support me and if elected, I will not disappoint you all.

“You should know that the APC are liars, they came to lie to us, deceived us and when we gave them our mandate, when they became President they forget about all what they promised us, he added.

Atiku claimed that, ” since Sule Lamido left as the governor of Jigawa state, even a needle they did not buy for Jigawa people. So I urge you all to return PDP, so that you can all enjoy. Will you return PDP? I know you will, so you have promised me that you will vote for PDP.

The former vice president also charged the electorate to come out and vote for PDP, he said “Another important thing is that you should all come out and vote, don’t just vote ensure that your vote count. After you vote, wait until they count and announced the winner.

On his part, the former governor of Jigawa state, Alh Sule Lamido said, ” my people, today I bring to you a man who truly loves you. The candidate is our own son here, his our own. Therefore, he has a right to demand our vote.

“And because the choice today is between competency and incompetent, between security and insecurity, between broken promises, lost hope and someone that will give hope. Is also between falsehood and true, between genuine political leaders and not para-civilians, he added.

Lamido said, ” others are para-civilians and they don’t understand compassion, love and peace is alien to them. So the family of PDP all over Nigeria are counting on Atiku Abubakar. We trust you, because we know you can do it.

Failure is not part of our culture, failure is the culture of APC. We are party of people who are brothers and sisters.

In his remarks, the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus described Atiku Abubakar has an energetic candidate that will bring about meaningful development.

He said, “today, I have bring before a very energetic candidate, this candidate would bring about unity into our country. So that you can live in Jigawa and work in Jigawa, that person is Atiku Abubakar.

“Atiku remains the man that will defeat the APC, the man they are afraid of. The man who just came from America, he has gone and spoken to the civilized world. He has addressed the international community that as soon as his sworn in businesses will begin to grow, he added

#Buhari’sHallofShame: Atiku Names 30 Corrupt People Working With Buhari

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on Sunday stated his position on the performance of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

Atiku, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, said Buhari’s first term in office is a sad reminder of Nigeria’s arrested development since 2015 when his clueless party, the APC came to power.

Shaibu called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ruling APC, which, according to him, has metamorphosed from a political party to a ”nest of corrupt politicians’’.

“This was attested to by the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole who was recently said that once any politician defects to the APC, he or she becomes a saint even if such a person were an armed robber”, the aide said in a statement.

Shaibu said that the most compelling reason for the APC to be de-registered is that it has driven millions of Nigerians deeper into poverty since 2015, when it took over leadership of the country, and spent trillions of naira procuring hunger, darkness and insecurity.

“It is the view of the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar that Nigerians from all walks of life call on the APC to apologize to all Nigerians for bringing them nothing but suffering of unquantifiable proportion since 2015, and to make a solemn pledge not to have anything to do with governance, especially with the February 16, election that is fast approaching,” Shaibu said.

He added that the Buhari administration was only chasing shadows by trying to drag Atiku Abubakar into the mud, which according to him, has now become the natural habitat of APC top leaders.

“President Buhari and his APC are criminal enablers and harborers of looters of our collective patrimony and this document “Buhari’s Hall Of Shame” is a scorecard of failure, incompetence, nepotism and a President’s proclivity to harbouring indicted and other famed thieves of our patrimony.

“Recall that, the former acting Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Mohammed Dauda, in a sworn testimony to the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence, revealed that President Buhari’s kitchen cabinet comprising Abba Kyari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babagana Kingibe, had pressured him to share the $44 million Ikoyi millions.

“After giving his sworn evidence, Ambassador Dauda was dismissed and has now gone underground. This is President Buhari’s style of fighting corruption.

“The hawks seem to have finally convinced Buhari to frame Atiku in some bogus N156million alleged scam, which they claimed is responsible for the collapse of Bank PHB. Assuming but not conceding that this allegation is correct, can N156million Naira collapse a bank with a reserve portfolio in excess of N25bn? But Nigerians are wiser and I am sure, would resist any devilish plot by some APC crooks who believe that it is either the President wins reelection or our democracy is truncated”.

Continuing, the Special Assistant said, “Nigerians are intelligent enough to know that the allegation of Atiku being responsible for the collapse of BankPHB is balderdash! They also know that the said BankPHB metamorphosed into Keystone Bank which was said to have been acquired by Buhari’s cronies through AMCON last year.

“By this latest allegation of the Federal Government through the office of the Minister Of Information, it is clear that the responsibility of AMCON has been appropriated. In appropriating the responsibility of AMCON. It is therefore no more a matter of speculation that Buhari and his family members are the new owners of Keystone Bank (Former BankPHB)”.

The former Vice President then asked what the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was doing before now when it refused to name Atiku as one of those behind the collapse until now that the leaders of APC see that he is just a few days from becoming Nigeria’s president, and wondered whether the revelation is at the instance of the new owners.

“Why was Atiku’s name not mentioned when Bank PHB collapsed? Is it because the APC and its goons know that they will be defeated in next month’s election? Or is the APC government acting on behalf of Buhari’s family who are reportedly the new owners of the bank?” he asked.

The former VP described the Bank PHB story as diversionary and a calculated attempt to divert the attention of Nigerians from the failure of the APC government to deliver dividends of democracy.

”Today, millions of Nigerians, most of them youths, are unemployed, forcing them to become professional beggars who wait with bated breath for FG’s monthly N5,000 handout aimed at bribing them to re-elect the party in the forthcoming elections.

”Talking of infrastructure, despite an ‘investment’ of over N1trillion by the Buhari-led APC administration in infrastructure, the nation’s roads have become death traps and power generation has actually dipped from 4,949 mega watts PDP left in 2015 to less than 3,500 megawatts even though Buhari’s handlers consistently claim that 7,000 mega watts is what is currently being generated,” he said.

Shaibu said the exchange rate of the Naira to the US dollar when the APC assumed office in 2015 was about 170 (official rate) to the dollar. “Today it is 360 to the dollar. What more evidence do we need to know that the APC has been a curse rather than a blessing to our country?”

He said Atiku Abubakar’s policy document focuses on job creation, ensuring security, growing businesses, developing power, and water infrastructure, agriculture and education and how ‘Nigeria’s next president will empower women.

” Unlike Buhari’s policy proposals, our policies outline the goals and methods for developing and revitalizing Nigeria and getting the country to work again,” Shaibu concluded.

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Atiku in Niger; promises women, youth employment

Atiku Abubakar Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has reiterated his promise to create more job opportunities for unemployed women and youth in the country, if elected president.

He restated the promise on Wednesday in Minna, while addressing party supporters at a rally. He also harped on the need for better infrastructural development in the Niger State.

The presidential candidate claimed that over 10 million Nigerians, including women and youth, had lost their jobs in the last three and half years of the All Progressives Congress-led administration.

Mr. Abubakar promised to create employment opportunities in the country.

He said that infrastructure in the country, including roads, schools and hospitals, were built by previous PDP administrations, calling on Nigerians to vote out the ruling party. According to him, the APC government has failed to deliver its promises of 2015 to fight corruption, insecurity and eradicate poverty in the country.

“Today, insecurity is not only peculiar to the Northeast, but we now have insecurity in North Central and North West; APC has failed to control insecurity.

“Our campaign is issues based; which is to fight corruption, restore back security and eradicate poverty in the country if voted into power.

“The roads we see today were constructed by PDP administration since 2008, other social amenities we have were built by PDP, we appeal to you to vote out APC in the forthcoming elections,” he said.

Mr Abubakar gave an assurance that he would create an enabling and friendly environment for businesses and investors, as well as revive industries that would bring about wealth in the country.

Earlier, Senate President and Director General of Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organization, Bukola Saraki, decried what he called the high level of poverty, insecurity and corruption in the country.

He said that the APC-led government had failed in providing security for the people.

In his remarks, Umaru Nasko, PDP gubernatorial flag bearer in Niger, appealed to the people of the State to vote Mr Abubakar as president and himself as the state governor.

He reiterated his promise of N20,000 monthly stipends for unemployed youths in the state if elected as governor.

In their separate remarks, Tanko Berji, Chairman of PDP in Niger, and Mu’azu Aliyu, a former Governor of Niger State, called on the electorate to come out en masse to vote for PDP candidates across the country.

Other dignitaries in attendance include Tenmu Turaki, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Phillip Aduda, Shem Zagbayi and Zainba Kure.

Atiku offers Nigerians hope in New Year message

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has urged Nigerians to rally behind him to forge a new era of hope and prosperity for the nation.

The former vice president is one of the favourites to emerge victorious in the 2019 presidential election, and he has called on Nigerians to make it a reality so that the nation can set a new course of leadership.

In a new year message signed by the candidate on Monday, December 31, 2018, he noted that the year 2019 holds a lot of promise for the country as long as Nigerians are ready to do the hard work of voting out the current government.

He said Nigerians must work deliberately to improve the nation by electing a government that offers purposeful leadership.

“We already have the vision, the vision of a nation that is a beacon of hope for the Black Race and the world at large, what we lack and what 2019 can provide, is the leadership that has the capacity to translate that vision into reality.

“In 2019, Nigerians need a leadership that is 100% for 100% of Nigerians, 100% of the time,” he said.

Full statement below:

“My dear fellow citizens,

“As 2018 comes to an end and 2019 beckons, on behalf of my family and I, let me wish you and your family a very happy New Year in advance.

“In 2018, we became the world headquarters for extreme poverty, however, I am convinced that in 2019, if we chart a new course, we can become the world headquarters for hope and extreme devotion to the cause of lifting our people out of poverty.

“2019 is as yet a blank page. As a nation, we must not settle for whatever it brings. Rather, we must take collective action, through our choices, in making it a year where we revive national hope, with visionary leadership that sees our economy and institutions working again as they did in our golden era.

“We can chart a new course and open a new chapter that sees every Nigerian living in peace and prosperity with their neighbour. It can be the year when our youths finally get a job instead of being unfairly tagged as lazy. With purposeful leadership, it can also be the year when we put an end to terrorism and usher in a golden age of peace.

“But it will not just happen by itself. We have to make changes from the top all the way to the bottom. We already have the vision, the vision of a nation that is a beacon of hope for the Black Race and the world at large, what we lack and what 2019 can provide, is the leadership that has the capacity to translate that vision into reality.

“In 2019, Nigerians need a leadership that is 100% for 100% of Nigerians, 100% of the time. We have seen where division and sectionalism has led us to. Now let us try unity and patriotism.

“Don’t lose heart and hope. Nigeria is no stranger to overcoming difficulties. In fact, we have an uncanny ability to perform our best when the worst is upon us. I urge my fellow countrymen and women to remember how we became the first nation in the world to defeat and overcome the Wild Ebola Virus, when even First World nations were struggling with the scourge.

“That resilience is domiciled in our national psyche and together we shall win forever. We shall win over forces of disunity. We shall win over forces of poverty and backwardness.

“But more importantly, in 2019, I want Nigerians to know that it is possible to have a leadership that is compassionate and that this does not equate to weakness. A leadership that is bold but not domineering. A leadership that is intelligent, but not arrogant.

“Indeed, that is the only type of leadership that can navigate the difficulties currently facing our dear nation and lead us to Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress, which are our national motto and which are the hope of all Nigerians.

“Once again, I wish you all a Happy New Year and may 2019 be the year of Nigeria.”