Vice President Atiku Abubakar has promised to recruit more Nigerians into the nation’s security agencies to fight bandits and other criminals ravaging the country if elected as president in 2023.

Mr Abubakar, a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stated this on Sunday night in Akure during a consultation meeting with delegates and leaders of the party.

He also promised to procure more equipment for the police, adding that provision of more personnel and equipment to the security agencies was one of the best ways out of Nigeria’s security challenges.

APC presidential aspirant Bola Tinubu made a similar promise to increase the number of soldiers serving in the Nigerian Army.

He commended the people of Ondo for trusting and voting for him as PDP candidate in the 2019 presidential election.

Mr Abubakar also urged the delegates to vote for him at the party’s primary slated for May 28.

“My number one priority is to unify the people of this country. How do I unify the people of this country? I will be fair to every part of this country. I will give a sense of belonging to every part of this country. Every part of this country will feel they are part of this country,” the ex-vice president stressed. “It is that unity that will enable us again to live as one nation, one people under God.

The PDP presidential hopeful added, “Every part of this country is dealing with one aspect of insecurity or the other, I will be very tough on law and order. I will increase the number of policemen in this country. I will equip them, I will also increase the number of the armed forces, and equip them very well, just like we did from 1999 to 2015.”

He explained that only when Nigeria is secure, “there is peace, there is law and order, you can deal with economic challenges.”

The former vice president also said he would provide adequate funding for education, saying “education is key to everything.”

“We can only achieve this if you, as delegates, support me and I win the nomination, and I go ahead to win the election. Atiku Abubakar is a household name in Ondo state, that is why you gave me over 35,000 vote margin in the last election. You deserve the best in this country,” he further stated.

The aspirant dismissed insinuations in some quarters that he was not strong enough to lead the country. Mr Abubakar stated that he had been travelling across the South-West states by road to meet delegates in the last couple of days and that he would support devolving more powers to state and local governments.

Ondo PDP chair Fatai Adams assured Mr Abubakar that the state’s delegates would “compensate” him with their votes.

(NAN)