A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Segun Adewale, aka Aeroland, says former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is the Messiah Nigeria needs now, and he can fix the economy.
Adewale, a former Lagos State Chairman of the party, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Lagos that no one should write off Abubakar politically or tell him to leave the PDP.
Recalls that some critics of Abubakar’s presidential ambition, including former PDP Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, and former Gov. Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, had advised the former vice president not to run on the PDP platform in 2027.
While George on Wednesday told Abubakar to immediately resign from the PDP over alleged anti-party activities, Fayose said he would work against his presidential ambition if he decided to contest in 2027.
Speaking, Adewale popularly known as Aeroland, said that no one should play God over the ambition of the former vice president.
“He (Abubakar) has been tested and tried as part of the few politicians with contentment, and he has never given up.
“He has been in power, he understands Nigerian politics. He knows our challenges compared to other politicians who just want to grab power to get wealth.
“Atiku is one of the politicians that I know that is satisfied with whatever he has. Most other politicians, like his critics, are gluttons.
“Unfortunately, the unrelenting opposition that Atiku has is still in the PDP, his party, not even outside PDP,” Adewale said.
According to him, it is sad that members of the PDP are still the ones vehemently opposing Abubakar’s planned coalition to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress for PDP and return the party to power.
“Anyone within PDP saying Atiku should not contest in 2027 is working for the opposition and not for the party or the country.
“They are working for personal pocket, therefore, should not be listening to. We must discard their opinions.
“All dissenting voices in our party are working for their stomach, not for Nigeria,” Adewale said.
He maintained that none of the opposition party could defeat the ruling party single-handedly, not even Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Calling for a rejig in Nigeria’s electoral system to deepen democracy, Adewale claimed that he had been allegedly robbed of electoral victory severally in Lagos State owing to a flawed system.
“It is not about how smart we are, but about the system. It is not about how popular you are, it is about the system. We must join hands to correct this before the 2027 polls,” he added
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IMF wants more Nigerians to pay tax
The International Monetary Fund has urged Nigeria to broaden its tax revenue base to strengthen its fiscal policy.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stated this at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on the sidelines of the 2025 IMF Spring Meeting.
In achieving this, Georgieva said Nigeria, like other African nations should deploy technology and reduce tax evasion.
According to her, the falling oil prices have created additional pressure on the budgets of oil producers like Nigeria,
On monetary policy, the IMF boss tasked African countries to tackle corruption, promote transparency, and do the right things that work for their respective economy.
“We are no more in a place where you can look at the book of the Central Bank of the neighbouring country and say, oh, they are doing this, I will do the same.
“You have to really assess domestic resource mobilisation, what is your inflationary pressures and do the right thing for your country,” she said
She, however, advised the continent to deepen regional trade and remove obstacles to regional trading.
Georgieva urged African continent to take cue from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in deepening interregional trade and cooperation.
“Sometimes there are infrastructure obstacles, the World Bank is working on reducing that infrastructure obstacle to growth and trade,” she said.
Georgieva said that Africa has so much to offer the world, including minerals, natural resources, and the young population.
She recommended to African countries, particularly, Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire to continue on the path of strengthening their country’s buffer levels.
“I think a more unified, more collaborative continent can go a long way to becoming an economic powerhouse,” she said
She also spoke on the direct and indirect impacts of tariffs on most countries in the continent, especially with slow global growth.
According to her, the tariff might not have direct impact on the countries in the continent, but, indirectly iit is quite significant.
