ATIKU Abubakar says his government will support businesses, especially those in the South-East, and set aside a $10b fund for them.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate said this during the party’s campaign rally in Umuahia, Abia State, on Saturday.
“My vice president has announced that we are going to set aside $10 billion to make sure that we support businesses, particularly in this part of the country,” he told the crowd at the Umuahia Township Stadium.
This, he noted, is part of his promises to businessmen in the region.
“I remember in 2019 when I came here, I addressed a group of businessmen from the South-East generally because Aba is the capital of the southeast as far as business is concerned,” Atiku added.
“I remembered I addressed all Igbo businessmen and promised them that I am going to support them and set out a lot of money for the rehabilitation of businesses in Aba. So, it is still there.”
Atiku said other needs in the area, like the rehabilitation of federal roads and provision of railways, will be addressed if he is elected.
The former president described these needs as “legitimate and they fall within our policy which we tagged: ‘My Covenant with Nigerians meaning our promise to Nigerians’”.
“We in PDP will be prepared to give Abians what Abians want. It is not an issue of ethnicity, it is not an issue of religion but it is an issue of good governance,” Atiku promised.
To further buttress his resolve to ensure there is an enabling environment for businesses in the state, Atiku recalled that he was part of the team that got the approval for the Abia Dry Port.
“It will only be my pleasure to make sure that the dry port functions and are operating,” the Adamawa-born PDP flagbearer added.
He also rued the challenges facing the country under the All Progressives Congress (APC), arguing that the country was much better when the PDP was in power between 1999 and 2015.
“You can all bear witness that when PDP was governing, Nigeria was prospering. That was the time Nigeria became the biggest economy in Africa,” he added. “We created more jobs; we created more prosperity for everybody in this country. We brought about peace and we brought about unity.
To get Nigeria back on track, Atiku told the gathering to vote for the PDP which he says will win this month’s presidential election.
“Therefore, it is better that you are on a winning ticket than on a ticket that cannot take you anywhere,” Atiku maintained.