Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has come under attack over plans to sell NNPC if elected as president in 2019.
Atiku, Wednesday, described the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as a “Mafia organization.”
Speaking during an interactive session with the business community in Lagos, the former Vice President declared that he would privatise NNPC even if doing so would cost him his life.
Atiku’s comment has since stirred diverse reactions from Nigerians on Twitter:
While some are at home with his plan to privatise NNPC, others are against it, describing it as a plan for PDP to loot funds.
Here are some comments gathered by DAILY POST from Twitter:
@Geomohamusa “PDP is claiming this administration did not provide jobs and now the same PDP are planning to put people out of job. Because what do you think if he succeeded in selling NNPC, wahala dey o.”
@Astropus “He’s going to sell it to himself. That is sure. Luckily, you won’t smell the office. Obasanjo was right, “don’t vote for criminals”.
@Engralonge1 “It is quite unfortunate we have this man in our country, so you don’t think how to have more companies in our country, your mission is to sell or privatize the one that is not enough. God forbid to have you as our president.
@Omotaye “Let him privatize the NNPC and see if there would be changes. NEPA was privatized and Nigerians have experienced tremendous changes. PHCN and BEDC are far better than the NEPA of before.”
@Ebuka_Akara “But If NNPC is privatised, It’ll do better because nobody who owns a business will sit and watch it fail.”
@Owendino1 “NNPC has always been his target even while he was Vice President which is one of the issues he had with OBJ. It’s obviously that it’s about exploitation and looting, Nitel was privatized yet we’ve got no landline today. I give up on Project Nigeria if this is the best we’ve got.
@Abrimatt “Mr. Atiku, Why is privatization your only means of national development, you approached Obasanjo during his tenure for this issue and he refused. This shows if you are elected Nigeria will return to darker ages than it was because you don’t have any plans to develop this country only to develop your friends.”
@Theshadeexpresss “The privatization birthed the telecom industry that’s currently employing millions of Nigerians & generating more corporate tax than the banking sector. All those companies privatized in that era were already near comatose due to the looting of their assets by the military regime.”
@Friendssch “Atiku can sell Nigeria and Nigerians and see nothing wrong on that, we are in trouble, no wonder Obasanjo warned us to be careful of him. He sold virtually all we had as a country to himself and he is telling us again. This is a clear warning. Patronage to MAKANO is reducing.”
@Ibrohandsome! “All of you against the privatisation of NNPC, how many of you are benefiting from NNPC today? Only 0.2 percent of Nigerians are reaping from that mafia organization. Think!
@Drtayeabe “PDP presidential Candidate sir, as ex-privitization Chairman, You privatised many federal Agencies under Obasanjo. Mention three out of the privitised agencies that have benefited Nigerians. Privitization is a weak institutional structures and corruption won’t work.”
@Profolu “Assuming I don’t have sense. I expect you that have the sense to know that currently, NNPC’s book was into a loss at the end of the year. NNPC will be paying homogonous subsidies if privatised. It will make profit for Nigerians.”
@Adesel “We want a President that builds, not the one that sells, privatize or abandon projects.
@avdul “OMG! neoliberal policy, it will only make the poor poorer, you remember SAP when the gov went ahead to privatize some of the agencies in this country, the repercussions were nasty and still reflecting in Nigeria economy you sound capitalist sir.”
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