Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has questioned the capacity of the President Buhari-led government to tackle insurgency in the North East, saying if he was voted into power, Boko Haram would become history.

Atiku spoke Tuesday in Yola during the distribution of foodstuffs to displaced persons held at his private institution, the American University of Nigeria. He promised he would continue to alleviate the people’s sufferings.

The former vice president said: “Only a government that is steadfast and decisive can tackle Boko Haram. When I was in government, there was a similar crisis in Yobe State in 2002. But because that government was decisive, the situation was dealt with fast.”

Atiku, who held closed-door meetings with APC chieftains in Yola, last week, had expressed concern over delays by government in checkmating Boko Haram.

The APC, meanwhile, has reacted to a statement, last week, credited to Governor Mohammadu Jibrilla Bindow, suggesting that the 2019 general elections would feature Atiku versus Atiku.

The party described the statement as a threat to democracy and a calculated attempt to divert the attention of the present government to political issues.

Spokesman for the stakeholders, Alhaji Isa Ahmed Gonja, at a press conference in Yola yesterday, said Bindow and his sponsors could not distract the Buhari government from its goal of providing quality service to Nigerians.

“It is outright thoughtlessness for the Bindow administration to dabble into the 2019 presidential election when there are so many issues begging the attention of the government. Looking at the entire scenario, we are tempted to question the motive behind the governor’s endorsement of Atiku for an office currently occupied by a party member. Is it a calculated attempt to create confusion in the party ahead of the general election? What is the wisdom in it?” asked Gonja.

The stakeholders advised Bindow and his sponsors to focus on paying over six months salaries owed Adamawa workers and execute projects to improve the people’s standards of living.

In Awka, Anambra State, yesterday, Atiku advocated free education.At the 5th Zik Lecture Series and 10th anniversary of Senator Ben Obi’s endowment fund, organised by the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Atiku said: “The importance of education to nation building is the reason I strongly believe that primary and secondary education should be free and compulsory in our country and Africa.”

Guests at the event included wife of the late Nnamdi Azikiwe, Prof. Uche Azikiwe; former Special Adviser to Goodluck Jonathan on Inter-party Affairs, Senator Ben Obi; former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, and the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna.