The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar is on his own when it comes to the claim concerning the 2023 northern presidency, according to the Arewa Joint Committee.
In a press conference with journalists on Tuesday, the chairman of the steering committee, Mallam Murtala Aliyu, stated that Atiku’s viewpoint did not reflect that of the organization.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Arewa House, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP), and Jamiyyar Matan Arewa are the six Northern organizations that make up the Joint Committee.
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According to Anaedoonline.ng, Atiku claimed that “the typical Northerner does not require a Yoruba or Igbo president, but a northern President who is a pan-Nigeria” while addressing the committee in Kaduna State on Saturday.
In response to a query on why he ought to win the support of the local populace, he made this statement.
However, a large number of political players in the nation have strongly disagreed with his comments.
Speaking to journalists about the issue, Mallam Aliyu said any thoughts expressed by the presidential candidates during their discussion are solely their own and do not represent the views of the entire group.
As a result, he urged Atiku to explain himself to Nigerians.
He said, “Atiku should clear himself. The same question asked by the Committee was administered to other presidential candidates too. So we have no business with the opinion expressed by our guests.”
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The joint committee went on to say that their goal is to provide a forum for all candidates to publicly discuss their plans for the north so that Nigerians can vote with knowledge. They have not backed any candidates and have no intention of doing so.
The committee does not support playing politics along racial or religious lines, the chairman continued.
He said: “These interactions in themselves were not planned with the goal of endorsing a candidate. They are part of a longer process that plans to generate commitments to address the challenges of the North by candidates, and which covers a substantial part of the campaigning period.
“We plan to extract and publish these commitments so that Nigerians may measure and evaluate candidates against them. Our goal is to afford citizens an opportunity to match candidates against their commitments to matters that are central to the interests of the North.
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“Until the elections in February, 2023 the North will be challenged to raise its vigilance over all electoral activities. It is vital that we priotize evidence of competence, integrity, quality of preparation and commitment to address the challenges of the North among candidates.
“We will continue to invite attention of the government to the security of the electoral process, and in particular the vulnerability of many parts of the North to organize crime which may posed a serious threat to their right to participate in electing the next sect of leaders in 2023.
“The need to show restraint and discipline as politicians canvass for our elections has never been more pressing . The entire Nation must be open to all contestants and free from violence.
“The exploitation of ethnic and religious fault lines is extremely dangerous, and the nation is already showing signs of stress owing to this exploitation.”
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