*Says his priority is how to move Nigeria forward rather than descend to the gutters with his opponents
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has broken his silence over the corruption allegations levelled against him following the revelations of his alleged use of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to raise illicit money to fund his Party, but vowed not to enter into the gutters with his political opponents.
In a statement he personally issued on Thursday, Atiku, however, restrained from mentioning Michael Achimugu, his former associate, who had recently accused him of corruption and of masterminding the use of SPVs to mobilise funds for the PDP.
He also did not mention his political rival, Tinubu whose spokesman, Festus Keyamo had recently vowed to make hell for him upon the disclosures by Achimugu.
Responding, Atiku stated: “I have since resolved not to descend to the low level of personal attacks and lies being peddled by my opponents. Nor will I join issues with those who, in an attempt to cover their character deficiencies, resort to mudslinging and gutter language, in a desperate attempt to disparage their fellow contestants.
“I’d rather take the high road of dignity and statesmanship to continue to advance our manifesto, as we continue to inform the Nigerian people of how the Atiku-Okowa government intends to stop the slip into the abyss by a country that is so blessed with human and natural resources.
“I will remind them about our past success when I served Nigeria meritoriously as the Vice-President in the government that has been adjudged as the best so far since our return to democracy in 1999.
“I want to share our dreams and achievable development plans for our today and our future.
“We shall assemble a team of some of the brightest and best Nigerians that abound within the country and in the Diaspora to assist in rebuilding our country. This is my commitment and my contract with the Nigerian people.
“To this end, my priorities shall include but not limited to unifying the nation to give every citizen that is a Nigerian, every state and every gender, religion and ethnicity a sense of justice, inclusion, equity and trust.
“We shall not only ensure that all Nigerians are treated equally, but that they feel safe and secure as opposed to the regime of pervasive insecurity that has gripped the entire country for too long.
“We shall also be preoccupied with resetting Nigeria’s battered economy, especially finding sustainable solutions to the recurring issues of debt management, deficits, subsidies and the flagging value of the Naira.
“The boosting of crude oil production, stoppage of oil theft and ramping up of non-oil exports to improve earnings are also top on my priorities.
“The reset of our education, to drive our development agenda, and the restructuring of our socio-economic and political structures will be defining efforts of my administration.
“In addition, Diaspora remittances will be given serious attention, particularly now that it has exceeded Nigeria’s earnings from crude oil to shore up our much-needed foreign exchange needs”.
