Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is from the North has advised his kinsmen not to vote a Southerner as president during the 2023 general election.
Mr Abubakar, according to Sahara Reporters, gave the advise on Saturday 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 in Kaduna State.
Vanguard Newspapers published the video clip of the serial presidential contestant who has decided to bring in divisive ethnic politics into the race that has two Southerners – Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi – as the frontline candidates.
Messrs Tinubu (Yoruba) and Obi (Igbo) are former governors of Lagos and Anambra respectively. The former is the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) while the later is the flag bearer of the Labour Party (LP).
“I think what an average northerner needs is somebody from the north who understands other parts of Nigeria and who has been able to build bridges across the country. That is what the north needs,” the PDP candidate widely known as Atiku is heard telling his audience.
“It (Northern Nigeria) doesn’t need a Yoruba candidate or an Igbo candidate. This is what the northerners need. So I believe I stand before you as a pan-Nigerian of Northern origin.”
Northerners need me, not Yoruba or Igbo candidate- Atiku pic.twitter.com/IiGkzwwvph
— Vanguard Newspapers (@vanguardngrnews) October 15, 2022
While Mr Tinubu is of the opinion that it is his own turn (E mi lokan) to govern the country, Mr Obi has repeatedly called on Nigerians to eschew regional, religious or ethnic sentiments and vote based on competence and capacity which he claims to represent.
