Abuja — President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua has urged states and local governments and the private sector to drive the annual Abuja cultural carnival which he said has the potential to drive the "economy.

He made the call yesterday while declaring the carnival open at the Eagle Square, Abuja. According to the president, who was represented by the minister of tourism, culture and national orientation, senator Bello Jibrin Gada, with the right structures and institutions, the Abuja Carnival will achieve socio - economic gains like others elsewhere of the world.

Over thirty states of the federation are participating in the fiesta, in addition to Ghana, Egypt and South Africa are also participating.However, followers of the event observed that this year's outing did not enjoy much publicity, a situation the organisers attributed to cash crunch occasioned by non-allocation of funds by the federal government in the 2009 budget.