The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has promised that if elected in the February 25 polls, he would ensure that the oil wells recently discovered in the north are not closed but are explored to develop the region.
He made the pledge while canvassing for votes at his campaign rally, which was held on Tuesday at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi State.
Atiku said partly, “For many years past, they’ve been telling us that there is oil and gas in the North-East from Lake Chad; now it is Bauchi and Gombe states.
Today, here is your own from the North-East. If you vote for the PDP, we will ensure that the oil and gas exploration is done this time around. Nobody will close down our oil wells and say that there is no oil or gas; no! I want to promise you this by God’s grace.
“People have been asking, if this crude oil is explored, how would it be transported? I want to assure you that we will revive our railways, which would be used to transport this crude to wherever it would be taken. You can even see our neighbours, Niger, explore oil; don’t they export it? There is also Chad; they also explore oil; don’t they export it? We also have our own ways of exporting this crude.”
Also speaking, his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa, who said Bauchi people had spoken with the huge crowd at the rally, expressed confidence that “the people of Bauchi will give us nothing less than two million votes.”
In his remarks, the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of other PDP candidates in the state, assured Atiku that the state belonged to him and all the votes that would come from there.
