The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has again revealed his crucial plans for the nation. In the buildup of the 2023 polls, Atiku Abubakar contributed on how to stop the lingering strike by lecturers of public universities in the country, The Punch reported.
Atiku speaks on plans for ASUU At the presidential debate organised by Arise Television, on Sunday, December 4, Atiku noted that the government should work with relevant agencies to avoid a bottleneck in the funds earmarked for the education sector in a bid to end the constant strike actions of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He said,
“In terms of their arrears and their salary structure, the government must be prepared to invest more in the running of our universities. And then, we should also avoid a bottleneck in getting these funds to the right places which are the universities.
In the current structure, there is a bottleneck. When the government releases funding to the universities it goes into another agency of the government and that agency now stifles the universities from getting this funding; forget about whether the fund is sufficient or not.
Atiku speaks on plans for out-of-school children in the north
On how he will solve the issue of out-of-school children, especially in the north, Atiku stressed the need for more funding and investment.
I tried to do this when I was vice president, particularly in the northern states. I commissioned a special study which was made by a committee led by a foremost educationist and as a result of that, we produced a handbook on how the northern states can catch up as far as education is concerned.
It requires more investment like Peter said. We are not investing enough in education. And because it particularly involves the northern states, I called the northern governors in Kaduna and gave them a copy of the report and how to implement it, but not a single one of them implemented it. Then we did not have a way we could force them due to the authority sub-regional areas had in the constitution, we could only advise them, so it requires much investments and funding.
Atiku speaks on healthcare and why he may not use Nigeria’s facilities
As regards healthcare, Atiku said,
What is required is the basic health centres to cater for the greater population of our people. This is where we need to focus as far as our health is concerned.
We will need to sit down with the private sector and let them know that we want them to invest in the sector, and we are prepared to give you incentive. It requires a dialogue with the private sector because it is even those who go outside don’t go to the public hospital, they go to the private hospital.
So, if we give the private sector the incentive they need, they will build. I believe Nigeria’s private sector is very active in this country.
2023: Everything about Bola Tinubu is controversial, says Dino Melaye
A spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Dino Melaye, has claimed that everything surrounding the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, is controversial.
Melaye stated that this is contrary to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, whose public profile is clean and in the public domain.
Speaking on Channels Television Politics Today on Thursday, December 1, Melaye claimed that the PDP presidential flag bearer has a verifiable historical background, unlike Tinubu.
2023: Researcher says PDP manifesto is the most detailed ahead of polls
On his part, researcher and journalist, Nichola Ibekwe has revealed that the PDP has the most detailed manifesto ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Ibekwe, a 2016 World Press Fellow, made the assertion in a Twitter thread on Friday, November 25. The renowned journalist also lambasted Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi for not releasing a manifesto to the public few weeks to the election.
