The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has restated his pledge to earmark US$10 billion for women and youth empowerment if elected president.

Atiku stated this while addressing party supporters in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Tuesday.

He said Ekiti has more educated persons than anywhere else in Nigeria, pledging to tap into the rich intellectual endowment of the state population to run the country.

Atiku also took a swipe at the state government over its alleged botched attempt to stop PDP supporters from attending his campaign rally by causing artificial scarcity of the petroleum product.

He said, “I can assure you that a PDP federal government will make use of the human capital that God has endowed you with in Ekiti. It is your gift from God and we shall utilise that human resources that God has given you.

“Besides, we want to make sure that our young men and women have businesses to do, and have sources of income.

“That is why I pledge to set aside ten billion US dollars so that those young men and women who want to get involved in enterprises will be given loans and capital so that they can achieve their lifetime ambition.

“When I came here today, what I saw almost brought tears to my eyes; when we came here some people said we are not going to see anybody in Ekiti. We realised what they meant was to cripple public transportation in Ado-Ekiti and the whole of Ekiti State.

“Again, they did not stop there; they also caused an artificial scarcity of the petroleum product so that even if you have your motorcycle, your car, you will not be able to move.

“What I can assure you is that if you vote PDP into power, the way you have made us happy today, we will also make you happy in Ekiti state.”