Atiku Abubakar


The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, says he is considering a government of national unity and that he will grant tax rebates, if elected president in 2023.


The former vice-president made the declarations in a statement he personally issued on Tuesday in Kano and made available to newsmen in Abuja.


Abubakar said if elected, his administration would take steps to douse tempers in the citizenry, unite Nigerians and pave the way for improved security.


“Improved security allows for investments; therefore, an improved economy bolstered by tax rebates would be be installed to attract foreign and local investments.


“Other proactive measures would be taken to attract investments to grow the economy,” Abubakar stated.


The PDP candidate added that Nigeria needed to bake a bigger cake and not accumulate bigger debts.


He recalled that last week the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the GDP figures for the second quarter of 2022.


He stated that though a growth rate of 3.4 per cent was reported, the truth was that the economy and the citizens were still facing challenges.


“The reasons are obvious: first, the key sectors of the economy, notably agriculture, oil and gas (the country’s cash cows) and manufacturing (that contributes to jobs), are either growing slowly or declining.


“Second, commodity prices are rising unabated and this is occasioned by high energy and transportation costs (and aggravated by the disorderliness in the foreign exchange market).


“Also, Nigeria’s debt levels continue to rise while the fiscal capacity to service the country’s debt is declining,” he stated.


Abubakar added that his submissions above raised questions about the reported gains from the output growth.


He called on the NBS to share with the public its recent statistics on poverty, unemployment and commodity prices.


Abubakar expressed the view that going for more debt would be a recipe for macroeconomic instability in the country.


“As  I have said before, increasing debts will never be a solution to our indebtedness.


“My government will halt the rate of debt accumulation and instead focus on private-public partnerships in financing development.,” he stressed.