Atiku: How I Will Tackle Poverty

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar on Sunday at the Arise News Town Hall Series III explained how he would tackle poverty should he be elected president.

Speaking on how he will address poverty, Atiku said, . “When I assumed office as VP in 1999, I was placed in charge of LG allocations. I gave instructions that all LGA funds should be transferred directly to the LGAs. After 9 months the governments of the states protested and said it was illegal. 

“We must look at the constitution and determine how to ensure that local government funds are directly allocated to the LGAs and applied in the best ways possible.

“The most important thing is education to get our kids educated. And not only educated but rightly educated. And then they can make themselves available to the private sector for growth—which is the engine room of the economy.

“When we were in power, the poverty rate was not this high. We implemented this NEEDS (National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy) and SEEDS (State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy) which significantly reduced poverty.

“I believe the program initiated by the PDP government, which brought down the poverty rate in Nigeria, should be sustained.