I am considering a govt of national unity – Atiku

The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said he is considering a government of national unity and tax rebate, if elected president in 2023.

The former vice disclosed this in a statement he personally issued on Tuesday in Kano and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

Abubakar said he was considering government of national unity that would douse the temperature, unite Nigerians and pave the way for improved security.

“Improved security allows for investments and, therefore, an improved economy, also targeted tax rebates to attract foreign and local investments, amongst other proactive measures to attract investments to grow the economy,” Abubakar said.

The PDP candidate also said that Nigeria needed to bake a bigger cake and not bigger debts.

He recalled that last week the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the GDP figures for the second quarter of 2022.

He said that though a growth rate of 3.4 per cent was reported, the plain truth was that economy and the citizens were still facing challenges.

“The reasons are obvious: first, the key sectors of the economy, notably agriculture, oil and gas (the country’s cash cow) and manufacturing (that contributes to jobs), are either growing slowly or declining.

“Second, unabated are rising commodity prices occasioned by high energy and transportation costs (and aggravated by the disorderliness in the foreign exchange market).

“Also, debt levels continue to rise while the fiscal capacity to service its debts is declining.”

Abubakar said that all of the above raised questions about the reported gains from output growth.

He called on NBS to share with the public its recent statistics on poverty, unemployment and commodity prices.

Abubakar expressed the view that going for more debt would be a recipe for macroeconomic instability in the country.

“As I have said before, increasing debts will never be a solution to our indebtedness.

“My government, if elected, will halt the rate of debt accumulation and instead focus on private-public partnerships in financing development.”