A former vice president and presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the government of weaponising poverty in the country.
Atiku made the disclosure in Abuja on Saturday at the 60th birthday lecture of the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, with the theme “Weaponising Poverty in Nigeria,”
Atiku accused the current government of not living up to expectations and using poverty as a weapon to hold Nigerians to ransom.
“I want to say that what we are experiencing currently in Nigeria is state weaponisation of poverty. I say so because when I was growing up in the North, the most prosperous city or state was Kano State and incidentally, as soon as I finished my secondary school, my first location was Kano State. I never saw people sleeping outside. Then there were no bridges or flyovers. I never saw people sleeping outside or outside the shops.
“However, recently in Kano State where I visited, people were all over the state sleeping under the bridge, on the streets, because they are driven out by poverty and insecurity.
“There is a state agency in Kano responsible for providing support to such people and they started doing their work and enlightening people and removing people from under the bridges and outside on the streets. What happened? They were called to a meeting and they were told to stop it,” Atiku said.
On why the he is joining the Coalition course, the former vice president added that “You may call me a conspirator, you may call me anything, and that is why we are in this alliance to make sure we don’t allow them to continue weaponsing poverty,”
On his part, Governor Rotimi Amaechi linked insecurity to the current poverty level in the country.
He said “Hunger does not know tribe and religion and the current government has made people more poorer which has increased the rate of insecurity and crime in the society,”
Amaechi further noted that Nigerians have power to vote out any leader if they are willing as the power resides with the people not politicians.
