Nigeria\u2019s Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has decried the rate of
\nunemployment in the country.<\/p>\n
He faulted the situation on Saturday when he officially flagged off his
\npresidential campaign in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we have the highest unemployment rate in the history of our
\ncountry. More than 10 million youth are unemployed,\u201d Atiku told a
\ngathering of supporters and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
\nat the rally.<\/p>\n
He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government of
\npoor leadership and worsening the nation\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
Condemning the repeated killings in parts of the country, the former Vice
\nPresident said Nigeria was facing its worst security challenge since it
\ngained independence.<\/p>\n
He, however, promised to revamp the nation\u2019s security architecture, ensure
\nthe safety of lives and property, as well as fix the economy if elected as
\nNigeria\u2019s president.<\/p>\n
Less than 210 days to the presidential election, Atiku was confident that
\nhe and the PDP would reclaim power at the centre from President Muhammadu
\nBuhari and the APC if he was given the party\u2019s ticket.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday I have returned to reclaim what rightly belongs to the PDP,\u201d the
\npresidential aspirant said. \u201cMy fellow Nigerians, the government of APC
\nhas failed; it has failed to unite Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we are more divided than any other time in the history of this
\ncountry. The APC government has destroyed our economy. They took over an
\neconomic growth of seven per cent and brought it down to less than two per
\ncent,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n
Atiku, a former APC chieftain, announced his defection from the ruling
\nparty in November 2017 through his aide, Paul Ibe, after which he returned
\nto the PDP.<\/p>\n
In his quest to become the nation\u2019s number one citizen, he contested
\nagainst President Buhari and three others for the APC ticket in the
\nbuild-up to the 2015 general elections.<\/p>\n
Having lost to the President in the APC primary conducted in 2014, the
\nformer Vice President reportedly collapsed his structure to support
\nPresident Buhari during his campaign.<\/p>\n
He had left the PDP to join the APC in February 2014, after he lost the
\npresidential election of 2007 on the platform of the then Action Congress.
\nWhile he was in the PDP, he had declared his intention to run for the
\nPresidency in 2011 but lost to former President Goodluck Jonathan.<\/p>\n
Atiku also contested for the Presidency in 1992 on the platform of the
\nthen Social Democratic Party (SDP), but later stepped down for late MKO
\nAbiola who won the convention primary.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has decried the rate of unemployment in the country. He faulted the situation on Saturday when he officially flagged off his presidential campaign in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n