The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar has said the crisis plaguing the party would be resolved before the general election.
He also said that his plan to restructure the country does not imply resource control.
Speaking at the Abuja Businessmen Breakfast meeting, said restructuring should be seen as adding responsibilities that would motivate development among Niger Deltans.
He said, “restructuring does not mean resource control, it goes more than that. It means responsibility and responsiveness.
“I will give you an example of the Niger Delta Ministry. In my proposal. I said the ministry should be situated in the Niger Delta. Whether it is Port Harcourt or any other place, the responsibility is to develop the infrastructure and human capital and so on of the Niger Delta.
“What has happened, the ministry of the Niger Delta has been created, billions of Naira allocated to it, where is the money going to, into pockets. If I am elected, the Ministry of Niger Delta will be in the Niger Delta.
“I will make sure the ministry develops all the infrastructure, education, and that institutions are fully equipped and well-funded. It is not only resource control that is the meaning of restructuring.
“You have tasted PDP, you said you wanted change, you voted for change and you have seen what the change brought for you.
“It brought poverty, insecurity, it is clear there is a record for you to look at. So, if your choice is based on patriotism and performance of a given government, you know that you cannot compare PDP with APC.
“Our road records are there, our economic records are there, but what is there in the APC, they are now saying they want to recover, recover from what, from poverty, from insecurity?
“I have visited some West African countries in the last few months, what I told them is that Nigeria will be back. Nigeria has been retreating in the past seven years, did you hear about Nigeria again in ECOWAS? I told those presidents that I will bring back ECOMOG, I will restore the multi-national forces to ensure regional security, peace and stability. So that we all can deal with this insecurity decisively.
“Once we secure the country, our businesses will be safe. Everybody will be safe to operate where he wants to operate.”
