Atiku Abubakar
The Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation on Thursday faulted former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar’s comment on the nation’s economy and described him as a mischief maker.
It said in a statement by its Director Research and Strategy of the organisation, Mr. Mike Omeri, that Abubakar displayed ignorance in his assessment of the economy under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
The former vice-president and a leading Peoples Democratic Party presidential aspirant had on Wednesday alleged that the country’s economy was in deep crisis.
But the GSCO said it was amazed that the Adamawa State-born politician did not take into cognisance the fact that the International Monetary Fund recently rated Nigeria’s economy as buoyant.
It said, “Only this month, the IMF confirmed that the economy of sub-Saharan African countries will be among the best performing in the world this year and next, lagging only behind those in emerging Asia.
“The IMF also raised its growth forecast for Nigeria’s economy to 7.4 percent in both 2010 and 2011 from seven per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively.”
The organisation also claimed that “ Nigeria’s external debt at the point of exit in 2005 was $3.5bn and only rose to $4.5bn in 2010.”
“At the moment, the nation’s public debt to Gross Domestic Products is 11.8 per cent. In the United Kingdom, public debt to GDP is 68.20 per cent; in the United States it is 53.50 per cent; while in Brazil, it is 59.50 per cent for the 2009 estimate,” it said.
Citing the international global rating as basis for faulting the position of the former vice-president, the group said the Jonathan administration was running an ‘excellent economy.’
It added, “In fact, we are rated the third fastest growing economy in the world today by IMF and World Bank. Anybody can go to the internet and download this information. Our economy rating since the (Olusegun) Obasanjo administration till date has remained B.B rating. We have not been downgraded.
“With all due respect, Abubakar displayed emptiness and ignorance in commenting on our economy. Such a man should not dream or contemplate managing an economy he knows next to nothing about.”
The GSCO also accused Abubakar of mortgaging the Nigerian economy when he was vice- president between 1999 and 2007.
It said, “We are all witnesses to the kind of economy Abubakar ran as vice- president when he mortgaged our common heritage to himself and his cronies.”
“Abubakar is the least person to talk about economy he ran aground. He lacked the moral standing and should be schooled on basic economies.
“Abubakar, who ordinarily should be behind bars for bringing the nation’s economy to its knees when he supervised the selling of our collective wealth in the guise of privatisation would have the temerity to speak ill of a hard working President like Goodluck Jonathan.
“ President Jonathan is only working hard to clean the mess of corruption bequeathed by the former vice-president.
The organisation called on Nigerians to ignore Abubakar “because people know that our economy is in good stead and President Jonathan is managing it prudently”.
It advised Abubakar to focus his campaign on issues instead of engaging in mudslinging because those who do so have nothing to offer.
Source:http://www.punchng.com
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