Latest Unemployment Report Catastrophic, Says Atiku

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described the unemployment report released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as not just terrible, but catastrophic.

Atiku in a statement Wednesday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, said that the latest report showed that under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, a whopping 20.93 million Nigerians have lost their jobs.

The former vice president said that more worrisome was the fact that the unemployed population in Nigeria was now twice the population of Benin Republic.

The PDP presidential flagbearer said, “We expected a terrible job report, particularly with the comment on live television from the president’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, that President Buhari had ordered the Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, not to release the latest job reports.”

“However, the job report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday is not just terrible, it is catastrophic. They show that under the All Progressives Congress administration, a whopping 20.93 million Nigerians have lost their jobs. To put this in perspective, the unemployed population in Nigeria is now twice the population of Benin Republic.”

Atiku stressed that Nigeria cannot continue like this, especially with an administration that continues to blame others for things that they should find solutions for, with the latest ridiculous episode being President Muhammadu Buhari blaming former President Jonathan for his own inability to appoint ministers for six months, an action that is directly responsible for the sorry state of unemployment in Nigeria.

He said Nigerians should not vote for a president who cannot create jobs or wealth in his own private businesses, adding that a person who cannot create jobs or wealth for the public “cannot give what you do not have.”

“Atiku Abubakar is an expert at job and wealth creation having created 50,000 jobs in his own private capacity. This is a man who will never have 150 cattle year in and year out. This is a man who will never blame others and will always accept responsibility for changing things. Nigeria needs jobs and Atiku means jobs,” the statement added.

He therefore commended the Statistician General of the Federation for having the courage to stand up to Buhari by releasing the inconvenient truth about the state of unemployment in Nigeria.