RIPPLES NIGERIA
The Federal Government has stated that former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who oversaw Ajaokuta Steel Company’s dubious and unsuccessful concession, is not the person who can solve the issues the company is facing.
Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, made this statement on Thursday in Abuja at the 19th iteration of the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023).
The minister in an opening statement said that Atiku and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate’s promises to fix the corporation if elected were dishonest and motivated by a desire for power.
He claimed that Atiku was being dishonest when he made the pledge during a campaign rally in Kogi State about two weeks prior, and he urged Nigerians not to allow themselves to “be conned twice.”
Mohammed said: “About two weeks ago, during his campaign stop in Kogi State, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP, said if voted into office, his government will resolve the problems facing the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
“This is a deceitful statement borne out of desperation for power. A little bit of background will show that the former Vice President was deceiving Nigerians when he made that promise. Ajaokuta was concessioned to Global Steel Industry in 2004 by the regime of then-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Who was in charge of that Administration’s privatization programme? Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. That concession that turned out to be a mess was terminated by another PDP Administration.”
The minister also claimed that after the failed concession, Global Steel Industry sued Nigeria and demanded seven billion dollars; the litigation dragged on for 12 years.
The corporation eventually paid for $496 million, according to Lai Mohammed, when President Buhari’s administration intervened.
The minister stated that the nation had agreed to pay the remaining 496 million dollars in five installments after making a bulk payment of $250 million.
