Atiku vows to sell NNPC to his “friends” if elected
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday declared that if elected into office he will sell Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to his friends.
Speaking during an interactive session with the business community in Lagos, the former Vice President vowed to privatise the Corporation if elected in the forthcoming election, even if doing so would cost him his life.
While declaring his intention to sell the Corporation, Atiku said he would not sell it his family rather to his friends, stating that “are my friends not entitle to be rich”.
According to Abubakar, the Corporation would operate better if not managed by the government.
He said: “Let me go back to my experience. When we got into office, I walked up to my boss and said “Sir, there are two mafia organisations in government: one is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) while the other one is the National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA).
“I said unless we dismantle these mafia organisations, we cannot make progress. Let’s privatize them… the long and short of this is that I am committed to privatisation as I have said. I swear even if they are going to kill me, I will do it (privatise NNPC).
“I asked a Nigerian professor based in America; I said ‘Prof, do you have ministry of petroleum in America?’ He said no.
“I said, ‘Do you have an organisation like NNPC over there?’ He said no. And America produces oil more than any country? He said yes.
“So I asked him, ‘How do they do it in America?’ and he said taxation and I decided that I will go by taxation too.”
