The presidential candidate of the PDP in the February 23, 2019 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has described late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua as a decent politician whose administration (only) did not suffer from executive-legislative tension in the Fourth Republic.
Atiku, in a statement yesterday by his media office to mark the ninth year anniversary of the demise of Yar’adua, said unlike the current government under which there was unprecedented violence and insecurity in the country, Yar’adua stabilised the nation and ensured the return of peace in the Niger Delta.
The former vice president said the late Yar’adua would be remembered as an advocate and proponent of the rule of law and the doctrine of separation of power.
“His was the only administration that did not suffer from executive-legislative tensions in the Fourth Republic. I am proud of what he achieved and the fact that such a decent leader was produced by my political family (the Yar’adua political family) and my political party (PDP).
“The late President Yar’adua was a man I was closely connected to. First, because his late brother, the great Tafida of Katsina, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, was my political mentor who taught both myself and Umaru the ropes in politics.
“Obviously, with Umaru, the apple did not fall far from the tree.
“And secondly, because we worked very, very closely when he was the Governor of Katsina State at the time I was Vice President to our leader, President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“In this period where Nigeria is facing almost unprecedented violence and insecurity, the world will remember that it was President Yar’Adua who bequeathed peace to the Niger Delta through his futuristic and visionary amnesty and rehabilitation programme.
“That single action saw an unprecedented improvement in the performance of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry which led to record-breaking five per cent GDP growth.
“May the Almighty Allah continue to shine His Noor (light) on the face of our late dear President Umaru Yar’Adua as we mark nine years of his passing and may Allah (SWT) grant him Al-Jannah Firdaus.
“I also pray that God continues to bless the family he left behind. A grateful nation appreciates the labour of its beloved son almost a decade after his passing,” Atiku said.
