Atiku: Cabal Won’t Run My Govt

*On PDP crisis, he says: ‘we have  moved ahead. Our train has moved. We leave the dislocations to the dust bin of history’

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said that if elected, his government will not be manipulated by any group of persons intent on controlling the affairs of state.

‘Cabal,’ wrote the VOA Hausa on its website, ‘is an English word frequently used in Nigeria to indicate that a coterie of politicians, and not the president, dictate the affairs of government.’

“You won’t find any cabal in my government. It is me: Waziri (Atiku) that will run the administration,” Atiku told Aliyu Mustapha Sokoto, the Head of the Hausa Service of the VOA during an exclusive interview at the station in Washington.

Many people, including the wife of the incumbent president, Aisha Buhari, have openly stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has ceded the control of state matters to a clique, an assertion that the president debunked  in an interview with the VOA in 2019.

Atiku, according to the station is visiting America to hold discussions with government officials on the the issues of insecurity, economic drawbacks and the 2023 elections confronting the country.

Atiku told the VOA that in order to tackle the problem of insecurity, the overhaul of the constitution is imperative. “We would confront this issue by convoking a constitutional review so that states and local governments, to whom we intend to give the imprimatur to run their security affairs, would be able to do so. But this requires amendment of constitution.

“Before we embark on this, we intend to employ more boots on ground, especially in the area of policing and civil defence, all of which we want to equip properly,” Atiku said.

The former Vice President explained that his administration would work closely with the judiciary to ensure speedy trial of offenders, pointing out that he would support the imposition of death penalty for terrorism related offenses.

Although Atiku, wrote the Hausa Service, didn’t talk elaborately on his current relationship with his erstwhile boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, he, however, said his disagreements with Obasanjo when they were in office was one of the factors that cost him victory in his bid for the presidency in 2011.

On the printing of new currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the current administration, Atiku said he knows nothing about it. 

But on the issue of Nigerian oil refineries, the ex Vice President said: “my position on this is not new. I have told you some years ago that I will privatize them. The reason is simple. If you allow investors to own them, they’d be better managed.”

He added that private investors have the capacity to overhaul the refineries and make them functional at all times.

Turning to corruption, he said the rule of law would be applied in making sure that those found guilty are not left off the hook. “This would demonstrate to Nigerians that our government means business,” Atiku said.

On the internal squabbles rocking the PDP, Atiku concurred that there was no reconciliation in sight yet. “We are yet to resolve the matter. But we have  moved ahead. Our train has moved. We leave the dislocations to the dust bin of history,” he explained.

He further explained that he doesn’t support the removal of the party Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as this is not a clever move as the elections are approaching.

“It is not proper, at this time, to contemplate a change of leadership of our party, whereas we are approaching the elections season,” Atiku said, while expressing confidence that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would preside over free and fair elections in February next year.

“This is because we have seen how they conducted two elections in Ekiti and Osun. In both cases we have praised them for good outings. In addition to this, President Buhari has assured us that he would allow a transparent, free and fair elections to be conducted in 2023,” Atiku told the VOA.