Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has described the Boko Haram insurgency as puzzling, noting that there was no forest in the Sambisa area.
He said this while responding to a question on the security situation in the North East, especially the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State.
The event is the ongoing Channels Television Presidential Town Hall meeting in Abuja on December 11, 2022.
Atiku confessed that he was yet to fully understand what the whole Boko Haram insurgency phenomenon was about because there were several issues involved.
He explained that his plans to deal with the security challenges in Nigeria will be scientific.
He cited the example of the United Arab Emirates, where he said over 10 million people live but that one can hardly find a uniformed policeman on the streets, yet crime is detected and dealt with speedily.
Atiku said, “I still cannot find in Borno State where a man can hide.
“I’ve been to the place called Sambisa. There is no forest there just shrubs above the ground. When you are flying back to Nigeria, you see people moving, I don’t understand.
“When I served in Borno, the then North East, I did not see where any person can hide. Yet, we deployed the Nigerian military which used to be the best, they fought many wars outside.
“I’m puzzled. I don’t understand, maybe when I get there I will understand. Everything is there: politics, business. What is required is leadership.”
Responding to a question about his plans for the Niger Delta, the PDP candidate expressed sadness that his ideas passed on to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua which culminated in the setting up of a Ministry for Niger Delta Affairs, was yet to achieve its objective.
He said, “The Ministry has not been able to deliver on one project. Take the East West Road for example; they have enough money to complete it but have not. When we come in we will review its functions.”
Speaking about the trader money programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress administration, Atiku lamented that it had degenerated into a political tool at the hands of the APC.
He said for it to be effective, it has to be institutionalized so that it can survive administrations and give more Nigerians access to better their lot.
