Abuja – Mr. Momoh Aliyu, a financial expert and Managing Director of Cyber1 Systems Network International, has backed the decision by PDP’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to privatize the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Aliyu made his position known while reacting to statement credited to Atiku on his proposed plan to privatize the NNPC if elected president.
The PDP’s flag bearer on Wednesday said that he would privatize the NNPC if elected, describing the state-owned oil firm as a “mafia organization’’.
Atiku, who spoke at an interactive session with the business community in Lagos, said that he would take the step even if doing so would cost him his life.
He explained that he sold the idea to former President Olusegun Obasanjo whom he worked with as a deputy between 1999 and 2007.
According to him, the former president did not approve of it but he is convinced that NNPC will run better if not managed by the government.
The expert said that the privatization of NNPC was long overdue but, however, doubted the integrity of Atiku in spearheading such process.
According to him, a country with population projected to double by 2050 and presently has many Nigerians that are unemployed should only focus on productivity.
Nigeria’s population is presently estimated at 180 million. Aliyu said the only panacea to productivity and job creation was to privatize and diversify the nation’s economy.
He said that the government would find it difficult to diversify conveniently because of its policies on public service which were critical to key sectors of the economy.
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