NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi has rejected former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore fuel subsidy, saying his administration would instead tackle poverty in Northern Nigeria through agriculture, education, healthcare and skills development.
Obi made the remarks in an exclusive interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, while responding to a question on why Nigerians, particularly voters in the North, should trust his position against subsidy restoration.
He said his approach would focus on addressing the structural causes of poverty in the region rather than returning to fuel subsidy.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it again. If there’s one president in the North who celebrates, it’s me.
“Because I will do… I know the problems in the Northern North. I will deal with the issue of poverty the way it’s not been there before.
“And in a non-corrupt way, where they will see it. The North has an asset. Nobody in this country, none of us, can say they have.
“I will deal with that asset. And that asset is agriculture. We’ll invest in it.
“We’ll give the subsidy in it. We will ensure that it will take all those poor people, Nigerians, back to education. Support them in different areas.
“We will make sure we invest in health. In skills. Support them.
“I’ll make sure they are bringing all those manufacturing activities that we lost. Today, if you go to Kano, there are factories in Bombay, Sharada 1, Sharada 2 that are gone. I will deal with the North in such a way that they will see it.
“And this fuel token will moderate the price all over Nigeria. It’s not only affecting only them. The poverty in the North was not worsened because of removal of subsidy.
“There’s other things.”
Asked to assess the Tinubu administration in terms of literacy, transparency and expenditure, Obi said the government had not performed well and described its spending as reckless.
“I think if you ask the people, but if you ask me, they’ve not done well. They’ve been a bit reckless in what they’re doing.
“At times I believe it’s not in charge.”
Asked why he believed President Bola Tinubu was not fully in charge, Obi pointed to developments surrounding the administration and public discourse.
“Because the things you see that makes it so and everything.”
Obi also outlined his approach to government expenditure, saying his administration would prioritise fixing existing infrastructure before embarking on new projects.
He said there would be no unnecessary construction of new government buildings until existing facilities and infrastructure were properly addressed.
“And for every penny. So we’re not going to see building of new guest houses. Building of anything.
“In fact, no new building. No new building. No new.
“Remember what I said. There’s nothing. Everything that is there is what we’re going to do until we see school.
“No new buildings. No new roads. No new roads.
“No. Until we fix the existing roads. We don’t want to start.”
Clarifying his position on road construction, Obi said new roads could eventually be built, but only after existing roads had been fixed.
“I said there will be.“We’ll fix the existing ones. Before the new ones. But we’re not going to start building new extension for the president or for the wife or for anybody.
“No. We will fix what is existing.”
Obi further said he would begin the change in government spending from himself, arguing that Nigeria’s president should spend vacations within the country rather than abroad.“Let me tell you. Well, that will start from me. And people will say it. Nigerian president must spend his vacation in Nigeria.
“We cannot continue this nonsense. Where does other countries go to vacation?”
Boluwatife Enome
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