Atiku in Kogi: Vote PDP and nightmare of Ajaokuta steel company will be thing of the past

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says if elected, his administration will revive the Ajaokuta Steel Mill which has become moribund.

The PDP candidate said this on Saturday during the party’s presidential campaign in Kogi.

He also promised to provide the state with an inland port to boost commerce in the northern part of the country.

“On the Ajaokuta issue, I want to confirm here that if you give us the support and you elect the PDP, the nightmare of Ajaokuta will be a thing of the past. I assure you and make the promise on behalf of the PDP,” Abubakar said.

“I also want to promise that the issue of Kogi’s inland port, which is an issue of all northern Nigeria, we will make sure we implement the programme.”

Abubakar’s comment on the Ajaokuta steel company comes days after President Muhammadu Buhari said the company is ready to be concessioned to private investors.

The Ajaokuta steel company project has been bogged down over legal issues after the concessioning during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Abubakar was vice-president during the Obasanjo administration.

Also speaking at the rally, Dino Melaye, spokesperson of the PDP presidential campaign council, said “146,318 members of the All Progressive Congress (APC)” have defected to the PDP in Kogi.

He added that Simon Achuba, a former deputy governor of Kogi, and Umar Ahmed Imam, former speaker of the state’s house of assembly, are among the defectors. 

“As of yesterday, I got a register of about 146,318 people that are decamping from APC to PDP,” Melaye said.

Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Achuba said the group is defecting because of APC’s “inability to deliver on promises made in 2015 and 2019″, adding that the defection is also inspired by the need to move Nigeria forward.

“We are leaving APC because of their inability to deliver on promises made in 2015 and 2019. APC government promised to revive the economy of Nigeria but it has been on a negative turn. The poverty rate has continued to rise,” Achuba said.

“APC promised to put an end to Nigeria’s security challenges but they’ve also not been able to do that. We are moving to PDP to move the nation forward.”

Iyorchia Ayu, PDP national chair, welcomed the defectors and called on his party members to accommodate them.