Nigeria: main candidates set out stall as vote looms

– Central bank –

Abubakar, meanwhile, was in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, to meet business leaders and outline his economic policies.

The wealthy 72-year-old businessman, who was president Olusegun Obasanjo’s deputy from 1999 to 2007, has been seen as the more business-friendly candidate.

Nigeria is struggling to recover from months of recession that saw the value of the naira currency plunge, inflation soar and the government grapple to reverse the slump.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Abubakar said he would remove central bank head Godwin Emefiele and float the naira if he is elected.

“I don’t think he’s pursued the right policies,” he was quoted as saying of Emefiele. Buhari’s stewardship of the economy, meanwhile, had been “clueless”, he added.

Earlier he vowed to “liberalise the economy to create jobs” in Nigeria, where despite being Africa’s leading oil producer, most of the more than 180 million people are poor.

High unemployment has been a persistent problem, particularly among the young.

– ‘Mafia organisations’ –

Abubakar, widely referred to simply as “Atiku”, said he was committed to privatising state-run companies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

The NNPC and other public bodies have been viewed as unofficial slush funds for successive governments, particularly around election time.

Abubakar characterised the firms as “mafia organisations” that needed dismantling and selling off. “I swear even if they are going to kill me, I will do it,” he said.

Buhari, who is also oil minister, promised to tackle endemic graft in Nigeria, including overhauling the NNPC to claw back billions of dollars in looted public funds.

But his critics argue his anti-corruption campaign has produced few prosecutions and been disproportionately focused on opposition figures.

Abubakar himself has long been dogged by accusations of corruption and the embezzlement of state funds during his time in office.

He has also been the subject of investigations in the United States. He denies any wrongdoing and has never been prosecuted.