By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
In an effort to firm up his campaign policy document ahead of the general election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has declared that the present summersault in the economy is not necessarily as a result of global economic disruptions but lack of policy direction and political will by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to think out of the box.
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that as soon as he resumes office, he will be proactive in the designing of a social and economic policies to forestall any challenges that may arise from domestic and global crisis. He said that he will also resume the monthly sectoral dialogue in order to enhance joint understanding of the economy.
The Waziri Adamawa in a statement released by his media office on Sunday said that the current economic statistics in the country is grim and disappointing.
He disclosed that he had mandated his policy review team to come up with a policy framework that will guide the country to a promising future.
According to Atiku, the modality of doing that is to assess the current performance of the APC in areas of economy, security, education, and youth and women development, among others.
Giving some insight in the economic situation in the country, the Presidential hopeful said, “Whereas the ruling party will blame our adversity on some isolated global events, what they won’t tell you is that their lack of direction and political will turned our economy into its current tinderbox situation.
“So, under my plan, we are going to be more proactive in the design of social and economic policies to forestall any challenges that may arise from domestic and global crisis. We will also resume the monthly sectoral dialogue in order to enhance our joint understanding of the economy. This is an initiative that I conceived when I was the Head of National Economic Council as Vice President in the Obasanjo administration”.
Going back memory lane, he said that the blue print he evolved while the head of the economic team between 1999 – 2007 led an accelerated increase in the growth of the economy
He said, “The direction and leadership that we provided is the reason why the economy recorded an annual average growth of 7.7 percent in the 6 years preceding the APC led administration. We also recorded a yet-to-be surpassed growth of 15.3% in 2002. The average growth of 1.1 per cent of this administration contrasts sharply with the aforementioned performance of our administration.
“We also did much better than this administration in growing the economy, taming inflation, building foreign reserves and in debt accumulation and management”.
He said that the upcoming election is a choice between economic prosperity and backwardness, failure and service delivery but called on the electorate to make a wise choice that will return the economy to the path of growth.
“The options before us in the upcoming election is a choice between the abyss where the APC has taken us and a tested capacity of the greatness that the PDP can lead us into. It is a choice between the failure to deliver on the promises made by the APC and the tested capacity that the PDP can lead us into”.
