I'll Eradicate Poverty in Nigeria, Says Yar'adua

from All Africa

This Day (Lagos)

By George Oji
Kaduna

Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar'Adua has assured that if elected president he would ensure that poverty becomes a thing of the past in Nigeria.

Yar'Adua who gave this assurance while addressing PDP supporters at his campaign rally at the Kaduna Township Stadium yesterday in the absence of President Olusegun Obasanjo also used the occasion to outline a seven-point priority programme he would embark on if elected president. He stated that given the nature of the nation's great human and natural endowments there is no reason why its citizens should wallop in poverty.

"By God's grace, poverty in Nigeria will become a thing of the past because of God's endowment to us. PDP will lead Nigeria into an enviable nation. PDP is the only party that will salvage the country, no other party will be able to do that," Yar'Adua boasted.

He listed the priority progrmmes to include power (energy), agriculture, industrialization, education, human empowerment, poverty eradication and redemption of Nigeria's past glory.

The presidential candidate stated that if elected president he would govern the country in such a way that all citizens would be proud to be identified as Nigerians.