Written by Sulaimon Olanrewaju and Adekunle Tayo Monday, 20 December 2010
FORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday, said that governors who endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan were merely deceiving him, because the same governors had also assured him of their support.
Abubakar, a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said though the governors had the right to support whoever they chose, but lacked the power to promise any aspirant the votes of delegates.
Alhaji Abubakar made this statement in Lagos, during a meeting with media executives.
According to him, “governors have no right to dictate to delegates. To do so is to intimidate the delegates and that is undemocratic.”
He stated further that: “I talk to the delegates one on one, he (Jonathan) believes in using the governors. At the end, we shall see which strategy is better. I think he now understands better and is going now to meet the delegates and giving them money.”
He also promised to tackle electricity problem to improve employment generation, adding that if elected president, he would work towards using earnings from crude oil for infrastructure development and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for recurrent expenditure.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Abubakar has raised concerns over the budget 2011 presented by President Jonathan, saying, for instance, that the percentage of the budget dedicated to capital expenditure will not allow the country to meet the accelerated infrastructure upgrade expected in Vision 20:2020.
“With an investment of a paltry 23.8% of the budget over the medium term, poverty will deepen and this will result in economic stagnation,” declared Abubakar in his concerns over the budget made available to newsmen on Sunday.
He argued that a country that seeks double digit growth rate must pump more resources into capital investment, warning that the implication was that improvements in infrastructure promised under the 7-point agenda, Vision 20:2020 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may not materialise.
Atiku said the 2011 budget was against the backdrop of poor imple-mentation of 2010 capital budget, adding that less than N374.875 billion out of a budget of N1.764 trillion had been utilised, translating into 21.25 per cent of total capital expenditure for 2010.
The PDP presidential aspirant also faulted the interest rate, saying that the budget contained no pro-jection on interest rates or strategies to reduce the spread between lending and deposit rates for the medium term.
“It is either the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) compels banks to reduce the lending rate or increase the deposit rate.
“The spread between lending and deposit rates should not exceed four points, to wit, if the deposit rate is five per cent per annum, banks should not be allowed to charge more than nine per cent per annum on lending,” he said.
The presidential aspirant said “to boost the value of the naira against international currencies may require the direct allocation of foreign exchange earned from oil to the three tiers of government, rather than monetising it.”
He equally attributed the disconnection between monetary policy and market interest rates to the high cost of funds and of doing business in Nigeria.
Atiku canvassed the need for the CBN to take steps to encourage lending to the private sector, so that it could assume its role as the engine of growth.
He urged the National Assembly to ensure that the budget “is redirected to reflect the wisehs and aspirations of majority of Nigerians for pro-poor people centred growth, which creates wealth and adds value to the value chain.”
http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/front-page-news/14982-2011-govs-only-deceiving-jonathan-atiku-picks-holes-in-2011-budgetAND http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/12/20/atiku-jonathan-bribing-delegates/ |
