Atiku meets with creative industry, pledges support if elected

As part of his electioneering campaign, former Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has pledged his support for the creative industry if elected president of Nigeria.

Atiku, who made the statement at an interactive session with major players in the creative industry at the Eko Hotel, Victora Island, Lagos, said Nigeria must give due recognition to the sector as it contributes over N5billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

The creative industry, according to the Former Vice President, is one of the revenue-generating sectors of the economy that could contribute to the prosperity of the country.

“This is a rapidly growing industry and it’s virtually driven by our own men and women, which means it reflects the ingenuity of millions of young Nigerians. Today, our focus, particularly my party and my candidacy, is the youth. And through the various presentations I saw today, I’ve also come to realise that it’s going to be a multi-billion industry, which can contribute to our national economy and create millions of jobs.”

Assuring the practitioners of his total support if elected, Atiku said, “What I will like to say here in brief is that I’m totally committed to supporting the industry to make it a big supplier of prosperity.

No, i’ve also listened to some of the requests and complain and I’m also committed to appointing industry professionals within you seated here today to head the various government parastatals that have the responsibility to regulate your industry.

“Of course, that goes without saying that if we want to promote this industry, we will also have to find a way to making sure that they have access to funding; whether from government or private sector. This funding can be refunded because this is an industry that has the capacity that has the capacity to make billions of dollars in income,” he said.

While pledging to ensure the industry gets tax incentives from government, Atiku also promised to implement relevant legislations that will help the industry grow.

“If really want to support industry and let it grow so that it can provide as many jobs as possible, tax incentive is necessary. We will also ensure that relevant legislations on the sector, which have been in the book, are implemented; there’s no way you can get this industry to grow without implementing the relevant laws.

So, here again, I will like to commit the government of PDP to making sure that those relevant laws and regulations are implemented so that the industry can begin to develop. These are my initial comments and commitments that I’ve made; you can hold me responsible. If we get there, come let’s sit down and discuss,” he said.