Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has assured the mammoth crowd of party supporters that reviving the Calabar port as well as completing the Lagos-Calabar-Port Harcourt is critical for the agricultural and economic revitalization of the state.
Atiku further assured that he will recover all the monies stolen by contractors awarded the Calabar Port and have since abandoned the project.
Atiku gave the assurances on Monday at the U.J. Esuene Stadium Calabar, Cross Rivers while addressing party supporters during the party’s presidential campaign rally.
Assuring that he will completes the road network linking Cross River with neighboring states as well as other critical infrastructure in the state, Atiku added that he still stands with his commitment of restructuring the country.
Atiku said, “When I was the Vice president, the issue of the development of Calabar Port came up I gave my total support, so that the Calabar Deep Port can be constructed for the benefit of the People of the state, South South and Nigeria as a whole.
“I have factories in Adamawa, if the port in Cross River is functioning, I will not take my container to Lagos port, because it is shorter for me to take my containers from here to Yola.
“When we open up the Calabar Port, the Eastern flank of Nigeria will be served by the port and that is very massive business and employment opportunities for the people of the region. One thing you must understand is that the moment the Calabar port is functional it will be an attraction to factories and businesses and it will be to the benefit of Cross River state.
“Let me also assure you that your agricultural exploits will be to your benefit, there is the issue of infrastructural development, the road network linking you with neighboring states and the proposed railway from Lagos through Calabar to Port Harcourt. I promised you this would also be done”.
Also speaking, National Chairman of PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu announced that the liberation of the country will commence within the next 10 days when Atiku Abubakar will be elected as the next President of the country.
The former President of the Senate reminded Nigerians that the economy was thriving under the previous PDP administration but lamented that under the ruling All Progressives Congress, the debt stock of the country skyrocketed from $9.6 billion to $97billion hence the earnings of the country were spent not on infrastructure, education or healthcare but on the serving of foreign loans.
Ayu called on the party members to ignore the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade who defected to the ruling party with the PDP mandate and assured that the economy of Nigeria will return to the days of boom if Atiku is elected as the next President of the Nigeria.
He said, “When we left office in 2015, naira was exchanging at N180 to a dollar. How much is naira exchanging to a dollar N800 to a dollar. That is bring poverty to you. When we left, we left a foreign debt of $9.6 billion. Within seven years, the APC has increased that debt to $97 billion dollars. In order wards, each one of you standing here is a debtor and it is affecting the economy of this country because all the money we are earning, we spend on servicing debt. It is not investment on road, it is not investment on infrastructure, it is not investment to import what you need, it is not investment in education. All we are doing today packing our money and giving it to foreigners.
“Let me tell you that the solution is in your hands. When you vote right, you will discover that in a short six months, insecurity will be a thing of the past, because we’ll tackle it. I want to assure you that in the next few months, in fact, we have only about 11 days to election for the liberation of the people of Nigeria. I thank you all for coming up on mass. And I want to tell you that the man Atiku Abubakar able assisted by Ifeanyichukwu Okowa will lead the liberation of Nigeria”.
Also in his remarks, Chairman of the Presidential Campaign Organisation and Akwa Ibom state governor, Udom Emmanuel said that Atiku is an industrial bulldozer and will ensure that all the ailing industries in the state will be reactivated if Atiku becomes the next president of the country.
