The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has clamored on the need for appropriate dispensation of Local Government allocations.
Atiku made its declaration during the AriseTv Presidential Town Hall Series Three, boasting of how he made sure that was done properly when he was the Vice President of Nigeria.
“When I assumed office as VP in 1999 I was placed in charge of LG allocations. I gave instructions that all LGA funds should be transferred directly to the LGAs. After 9 months the governments of the states protested and said it was illegal.
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“We must look at the constitution and determine how to ensure that local government funds are directly allocated to the LGAs and applied in the best ways possible,” Atiku said.
The PDP’s flagbearer also revealed the need to remove subsidies, tagging them as “wastage”, disclosing that the funds can be used to reduce debt.
He added; “We must first block government wastages. We started removing subsidies while we were in office. We were to remove it in four stages. We did two stages before we left, but no one had the leadership and courage to see it through.
“This is another means through which we can raise the necessary funding for the government to reduce the deficit.”
Atiku Abubakar was the Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.
The series three of the Arise TV presidential debate was held on the 4th of December, 2022, as Atiku Abubakar was in attendance, alongside the Presidental Candidate of the Labour Party; Peter Obi, and the Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressive Party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was once again unapologetically absent.