Senator Adams Oshiomhole has accused African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar of bearing responsibility for the loss of major Nigerian manufacturing jobs, arguing that factories shut during the administration in which Atiku served as vice president.
Key takeaways
- Oshiomhole made the remarks at an All Progressives Congress presidential campaign event in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Saturday.
- He said Michelin and Dunlop ceased operations in Rivers State while Atiku was vice president under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
- The Edo North senator said the closures eliminated thousands of jobs at companies that had been significant employers.
- He challenged Atiku’s criticism of unemployment, saying the previous government failed to safeguard existing industrial work.
Attack on industrial record
Addressing supporters at the APC rally, Oshiomhole criticised Atiku, who is running for president on the ADC platform, over what he described as the decline of domestic industry during the period Atiku held office.
He specifically cited the shutdowns of Michelin and Dunlop in Rivers State, saying the companies’ departures were emblematic of policies that weakened Nigerian manufacturing and increased the country’s dependence on imports.
“Who shut Nigerian industries? Who shut Michelin? Who shut Dunlop? Who turned Nigeria into a country importing everything, from underwear to socks?” Oshiomhole said, arguing that this was the result of the government and political party to which Atiku belonged.
Jobs and campaign promises
Oshiomhole said the Obasanjo administration, in which Atiku was vice president, allowed the two companies to close and leave the country.
He described Michelin and Dunlop as major sources of employment and said their closures left thousands of workers without jobs.
The senator argued that Atiku should not now campaign on promises to create employment when, in Oshiomhole’s view, the government in which he served did not preserve jobs that already existed in Nigeria’s industrial sector.
