The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said those from the North don’t need candidates from the South during the 2023 elections.
Atiku stated this while responding to a question posed to him by the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, during an Interactive Session With Arewa Joint Committee held on Saturday in Kaduna State.
According to him, Northerners need to vote for him rather than a Yoruba or Igbo candidate because he’s a Pan-Nigerian with a northern extraction.
When Baba-Ahmed asked Atiku why Northerners should vote for him, the PDP presidential candidate replied, “What the average Northerner needs is somebody who’s from the north and also understands that part of the country and has been able to build bridges across the country.
“This is what the Northerner needs, it doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate, I stand before you as a Pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”
Actor, LP Spokesman Kenneth Okonkwo Knocks Atiku
Nollywood actor and a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Kenneth Okonkwo, has slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar, over a recent statement.
Atiku during an Interactive Session With Arewa Joint Committee held on Saturday in Kaduna State said Northerners need to vote for him because he is a Pan-Nigerian with a northern extraction that has built bridges across the country.
According to him, Northerners do not need any Yoruba or Igbo candidate as president of the country.
He had said: “What the average Northerner needs is somebody who’s from the north and also understands that part of the country and has been able to build bridges across the country.
“This is what the Northerner needs, it doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate, I stand before you as a Pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”
Reacting to the development in a statement on Saturday, Okonknwo said Atiku has shown how ethnically bigoted he is by openly telling Northerners not to support candidates from the South during the 2023 election.
The actor noted that Southerners who are considering Atiku’s promise to hand over to them are dreaming because the former vice president believes that power must remain in the North.
He wrote: “Atiku Abubakar has shown how ethnically bigoted he is by openly urging Northerners not to support any Yoruba or Igbo, candidate
“Isn’t it hypocritical that this great disuniter travelled all the way to London to prostrate for Wike from South South for his support yet telling the Northerners that they don’t have to support Igbo or Yoruba candidates but only Northern candidates?
“Ignorant Southerners who are considering Atiku because of his lies that he will hand over power to a Southerner are dreaming. He believes that power must remain in the North permanently as he can be seen telling Northerners that they need only Northerners.
“The truth is that the North does not need a corrupt bigot. What it needs is a Pan-Nigerian candidate that will transform the vast arable Northern land from consumption to production to ensure food security and the industrialisation of the North. The North is yet to recover from the trauma of the incompetent APC led by a Northerner. Nigerians must reject Atiku comprehensively”
