The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has criticized one of the presidential candidates in the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who promised during the campaigns to sell the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He repeated this promise yesterday, Wednesday, 20th February, 2019, while speaking in one of the Northern states. According to MURIC, the proposed sale of NNPC which is the backbone of Nigeria’s economy has serious economic implications for the citizens.
In a press statement issued on Thursday, 21st February, 2019, MURIC expressed deep concern about the proposed sale. The statement was signed by Professor Ishaq Akintola, Founder and Director of the Islamic human rights organisation.
“We must start taking Alhaji Atiku Abubakar very seriously, particularly on this issue of planning to sell NNPC. In view of the fact that petroleum is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy and NNPC is key to its performance, the Nigerian people need to know what will happen if the former vice president’s promise becomes a reality.
“We are therefore asking His Excellency to explain to Nigerians what will become of civil servants who rely on their monthly salaries alone if NNPC is sold. If it is true that at least 70% of Federal Government’s allocation comes from NNPC sales and both federal and state governments rely on the allocation to pay their employees, how will federal and state workers continue to get their salaries regularly? Is this not an invitation to massive retrenchment, unbridled poverty and increased crime rate? What measures have Your Excellency put in place to ensure that our fears are not actualized?
“By extension, MURIC will like to know what Alhaji Atiku Abubakar means by his widely quoted statement, ‘I will enrich my friends’. We will like to know who the former vice president referred to as his ‘friends’ as well as the criterion or criteria for becoming Alhaji Atiku’s friend. Also, what form will such enrichment take? From where will the resources for enriching his friends come, from his personal resources or from our common patrimony?
“The Nigerian people will love to hear an explanation before they go to the polls in the next 48 hours. The Muslim Rights Concern is deeply concerned about the fate of Nigerian Muslims who form a large majority of Nigeria’s population and who are most likely to be the main victims of a general retrenchment and the attendant widespread poverty among the masses. MURIC cannot afford to close its eyes to a major economic policy which is capable of affecting the lives of a large majority of Nigerians.”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
