The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the prediction by The Economist that he will defeat incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential election scheduled for February 14, 2019.
The respected financial publication had made this known in a country report by its Economic Response Unit (EIU) published on October 17.
Reacting to the prediction, the second in two months by the magazine, Atiku said that The Economist’s endorsement showed that Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed lied when he said the international media were against his candidature.
Atiku disclosed that the endorsement by The Economist was the second in recent times as Policy Magazine had also endorsed him.
In a Friday statement by his media office in Abuja, the former Vice President said that The Economist had rightly diagnosed Nigeria’s greatest challenges at the moment: joblessness, poverty and insecurity.
The statement read, “No other candidate has the capacity to address these challenges, like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, under whose watch as Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, Nigeria had her highest growth in job numbers.
“Indeed, His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, is poised to translate the significant success he has made in his private business empire to the public sector.
“This anticipation is responsible for the momentum he now enjoys in all the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
“For the past one year, Mr. Abubakar has traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria, selling his plans, vision and policies to Nigerians.
“Unfortunately, rather than do the same, the All Progressive Congress has focused on negative campaigning by slandering Mr. Abubakar’s past.
“We are not surprised by their actions. When a man’s future intimidates people, they focus on lying about his past because they cannot compete in the present. However, we thank The Economist for proving that no matter how far and fast falsehood has travelled, it must eventually be overtaken by the truth.”