The governor of Bauchi state, Muhammed Abubakar, has revealed that between 1999 and 2003, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, was in charge of the government of Nigeria as his principal left the affairs of the country to him.
Abubakar also opined that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “may appear to have had a better presidential primary,” adding that this may have overshadowed how the opposition party faired in the other elections at state levels.
In a video published by Daily Sun, the governor also spoke about his rift with the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, stating that his offence was simply that as a party man, he supported the choice of the APC concerning who should be the head of the lower legislative chamber.
READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda
He agreed that there were disagreements following the recent primaries of the APC, but added: “Disagreements are usual in politics, but it is the ability to surmount them that determines whether a party in big or not.
“I am assuring you that most of these disagreements are being settled. If you recall, five of us were with Mr President and some of the issues were discussed. We have implored Mr President to wade in and we are getting to the bottom of the problems.”
The governor expressed agreement that Nigeria was still lagging behind concerning internal democracy among political parties. He, however, noted that the country’s democracy is just 20 years and still has a lot to do.
“After our meeting with Mr President, we said the next set of elections are going to be run on issues.
“We thank God that Atiku was one time the vice president of Nigeria and, in fact, between 1999 and 2003, he was the de facto president of Nigeria because Obasanjo allowed him a free reign of the government and the party.
“So Atiku must have his scorecard to show and Mr President has his scorecard to show,” he said while asking Nigerians to judge from the achievements.
He argued that Buhari silently achieved a lot in the last three years, one of which was taking the country out of recession compared to some countries in Europe which were in recession for over 10 years.
He agreed that growth is slow but that this was expected as he also noted that it was not the current government that plunged the country into recession.
PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
According to him, in 2014, Okonjo-Iweala raised an alarm that the country was going into recession because of the way it was run by the then government in power.
Ahead of 2019, he said the campaign structures of the president and the governors must be re-organised to be very inclusive. He said people support the president and that all that was needed was to maximize this to achieve the desired result.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nduese Essien, a former minister of lands and housing, said Atiku Abubakar will win the 2019 presidential election because of the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.
There’s No Big Deal About Searching Atiku - Rtd Customs Officer - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
