Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the pledge during his campaign rally in Katsina on Tuesday.
But the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said Atiku, in his desperation for power, would not hesitate to return Nigeria to the era of unbridled inflow of weapons and massive importation of food to the detriment of local farmers.
The minister spoke yesterday in Abuja at the 15th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the scorecard initiative, which was launched as part of efforts to showcase the achievements of the Buhari administration, had as guest the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi.
According to the minister, Atiku’s pledge, if implemented, will put millions of Nigerians out of their job, as well as ruin the fertiliser companies and the rice mills that had grown exponentially in number since Nigeria shut its land borders in 2019.
He added that the planned policy by Atiku would worsen the security situation in Nigeria by throwing open all the borders and allowing a massive inflow of small arms and light weapons into the country.
Mohammed said by the statement, Atiku had informed Nigerians that he would reverse all the efforts made by the Buhari administration to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of many staples, especially rice.
He added that millions of rice farmers would lose their jobs when imported rice floods the country, while hundreds of thousands of Nigerians working in the various rice mills established under the Buhari administration, would also be jobless.
“By that statement, Alhaji Atiku will shut down most, if not all, of our new fertiliser blending companies, with thousands of jobs going down the drain.
“Also, by his declaration, the former vice-president has told Nigerians that he will worsen security in the country by allowing arms and ammunition to flow unhindered into the country,” he said.
The minister said the Buhari administration had increased the number of fertiliser blending plants in the country from 10 in 2015 to 142 presently, and the rice mills in the country from 10 in 2015 to 80 integrated rice mills.
He also disclosed that 10 large-scale integrated rice mills were currently being built across the country.
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l meet a stiff penalty and the wrath of the law. He said:
“There are pockets of personnel still colluding with criminals to sabotage these efforts. Let me, therefore, warn that any act of collision with criminals to sabotage measures emplaced to check illegality will be made to face sanctions in accordance with the laws of the land.
“Note that as leaders of the service, you are expected to be above board, and ensure that subordinates equally buy into the zero-tolerance stance of the Nigerian Navy against all forms of illegalities and criminalities at sea and ashore.”
Data on crude oil theft: In July 2021, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) released a report revealing that Nigeria lost 42.25 million barrels of crude oil valued at $2.77 billion to oil theft in 2019.
On April 7, 2022, during a session of the Upstream Petroleum Committee at the House of Representatives, Mele Kyari told committee members that Nigeria lost $4 billion to crude oil theft at the rate of 200,000 barrels per day in 2021. Kyari also pointed out that as of Q1/2022, Nigeria had already lost $1.5 billion to crude oil theft.
During a visit to the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa in August 2022, Mele Kyari said Nigeria is losing $1.9 billion every month to crude oil theft.
In case you missed it: In early December 2022, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno, inaugurated an 11-member Special Investigative Panel on oil theft and losses in Nigeria.
