Nigerian opposition candidate vows to invest $450 billion in infrastructure if elected
Nigerian opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar said on Monday he would invest $90 billion annually in infrastructure over the next 5 years if he wins presidential elections in 2019.
Abubakar made the commitment in his manifesto for the February 2019 race, where he will seek to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari.
He also says he will seek to boost investment in the oil sector.
He plans to re-consider introducing bidding rounds for marginal fields and oil blocks, privatizing government-owned crude refineries and issuing new licenses for greenfield investments in refineries, the draft said.
In the presidential election scheduled for February, Abubakar, the main opposition People’s Democratic Party candidate, will seek to prevent President Muhammadu Buhari from securing a second term.
Nigeria’s is Africa’s largest producer of crude and remains largely dependent on sales of oil, which make up roughly two-thirds of government revenues, despite years of administration promises to diversify the economy.
A large part of that is due to global oil price declines outside the administration’s control, though Buhari’s government has tried to keep tight control of exchange rates as the naira weakened, discouraging foreign investors.
