Nigerian voters have been requested to ensure a new dawn that will usher in a better Nigeria by voting for Atiku Abubakar as the next President of the country. Making the request recently at the continuation of the South East Zone Advocacy and Stakeholders meeting on “Voting Right” by the Atiku Immutable Mandate (AIM) Group in Awka, AIM Group’s South-East Zonal Leader Mazi Omife I. Omife, noted that the main objective of the meeting is to further enlighten voters on the need to vote for Atiku and how best to thumb print the ballot paper to ensure that their votes really count.

Omife restated his stance that the Muhammadu Buhari government has made Nigeria the poverty capital of the world. He noted that “Studies have shown that Nigerians are worse off today than they were four years ago”, and that “Nigeria’s GDP per capita has contracted every year since 2015 when it peaked at $2, 693 per head. In 2016, it fell to $2, 171 and $1, 828 in 2017”. Quoting the Brookings Institution, he regretted that “about 8, 000 citizens are falling into extreme poverty on a daily basis”.

Alluding to data from the World Bank and Renaissance Capital, Omife said: “With 87 million Nigerians living below the $1.90 poverty baseline, almost one out every two nationals (44 percent) lives in extreme poverty. Incidentally, India, which is second in the poverty scale, has 57 million people that are extremely poor, representing just 4.4 percent of its 1.3 billion population.”

He lamented that “access to capital by entrepreneurs remains a problem as only 23 percent of businesses can get needed financing” hence the nation’s economy is in dire strait. He therefore urged Nigerians to ensure that they elect Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the next President, thus “turning around the present deplorable situation that has occasioned a very precarious socio-economic situation in the country.”

Omife reiterated the ten reasons advanced by Atiku why Nigerians should vote for him. He said: “The first is that Atiku will build and empower the youth. The second is that Atiku will create jobs. The third is that Atiku will not discriminate. The fourth is that he will respect the Rule of Law. The fifth Nigerians should vote Atiku is that he will revamp education at basic and higher levels. The sixth Atiku will lift 50 million people out of extreme poverty. The seventh is that he will rapidly develop infrastructure. The eight is that he will ensure resource control. The ninth is that Atiku will make power work and the tenth reason while Nigerians should vote for Atiku is because he will protect Nigerians.”

•Photo shows Mazi Omife I. Omife, leader of Atiku Immutable Mandate (AIM) Group addressing members of the Group during the recent South East Zone Advocacy and Stakeholders meeting on “Voting Right” in Awka.

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