[ad_1]
Atiku Abubakar's Nigerian presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar's January trip to Washington, had a simple goal: put an end to accusations that he could not go to the United States without being arrested.
The 72-year-old former vice president has long been linked to two corruption and money-laundering scandals in the United States, and is reported to have been banned from a visa.
Abubakar repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and his entourage dismissed the threat of arrest as "false news".
But far from putting the question to bed, the visit only provoked even more questions about whether he was able to obtain a waiver.
Have lobbyists close to President Donald Trump facilitated the trip? How much did he pay? Why did he stay at the Trump International Hotel, just steps from the White House?
Without an official response, questions are likely to last long after February 16, when Nigerians go to the polls.
Beyond the general promises of fighting corruption, Abubakar has largely focused his presidential campaign on how he will turn the economy around.
"Put Nigeria Back to Work" – its Trumpian slogan – not only plays on its image as a successful business man, but also highlights the alleged shortcomings of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and largest oil producer, went into recession in 2016 due to falling world crude prices.
The country has also surpbaded India to become the country with the most people living in extreme poverty.
Abubakar has promised free market reforms, including the privatization of inefficient and opaque public companies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He also promised to reduce the powers of the central bank and its governor. But experts say his plan for a "dream economy" of promising jobs and youth employment may well be that.
"It will not be easy to talk about the privatization of the NNPC because of too many vested interests," said Abubakar Sadiq, of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, in the north of the country.
NNPC's recast proposals have been stalled in parliament for years as his ideas for the central bank go against calls for less government interference.
This year's campaign is the fifth time that Abubakar represents Nigeria's highest post. Given his age and the younger and younger population of the country, it could be his last.
Abubakar is well known in Nigeria as a former head of the customs service. During this period, he developed commercial interests in the oil, agriculture and other sectors.
He became Vice President of Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999, when the civilian government was re-established in Nigeria after decades of military rule.
During his eight-year tenure, he oversaw the privatization of hundreds of loss-making, corrupt, or poorly managed public corporations.
Even then, critics claimed that he had also benefited from corruption, abuse of power, and influence-peddling, earning millions of dollars – but he did not believe it. never been subject to prosecution.
His term was also notable for a very public dispute with Obasanjo over his apparent plans to seek a third term unconstitutional.
Since his resignation, he has attempted to secure the nomination of several parties for the presidency, including the All Progressives Buhari Congress (APC) in 2015.
He returned to the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in 2018, accusing Buhari and the APC of failing to keep his promises.
Abubakar has distinguished himself since his humble beginnings in the state of Adamawa, in the northeastern part of the country, where he later founded the American University of Nigeria at Yola.
"My parents did not believe in education, they did not want me to be educated, my father was jailed for not allowing me to go to school," he said. he said in a recent interview.
"And look at what education has done today, that 's why I want a lot of investment in education, from kindergarten to high school. university, which must be subsidized. "
Because Abubakar and Buhari are both Fulani and Hausa Muslims from northern Nigeria, there is little that separates the two in terms of the country's identity politics.
But Abubakar has sought to differentiate himself from his 76-year-old opponent, especially for younger voters, who may consider the two too old and too distant to represent them.
In an interactive video, he said his children and grandchildren were keeping him on his guard: he has three wives, more than 20 children and dozens of other grandchildren.
He revealed his pbadion for the English football team Arsenal, his love of spicy rice Jollof, the music of Fela Kuti and Spiderman as his favorite superhero.
"I think the mobile phone is the only gadget without which I can not do without," he said.
S & # 39; register
to the main News24 news in Africa in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TO HELLO
NEWSLETTER AFRICA
TO FOLLOW
News24 Africa on Twitter and Facebook.
[ad_2]
Source link
