Atiku’s Ethnic Baiting: Why The North Needs A Pan-Nigerian Leader Like Him
The Oasis Reporters
October 15, 2022
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Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has said that the credentials of national inclusivity, not ethnicity should be an ideal that the Northern part of the country should examine in electing a new president for the country in the 2023 elections.
Atiku has had his own "emi lokan" moment🤣. He reportedly told members of the Northern Elders Forum in Kaduna that northerners need him, not a Yoruba or Igbo candidate. That's reckless ethnic baiting. They're all the same.
— Farooq Kperogi (@farooqkperogi) October 15, 2022
Atiku made the remarks when he featured as a guest of the Arewa Joint Committee interactive sessions with various presidential candidates of political parties on Saturday in Kaduna.
He noted that with a political career that spans more than three decades, he stands shoulder high as a Northerner who has built bridges of unity across the country.
A commenter however questions how well the bridges in the north accommodates everyone including the northern Christian, indigenous Hausas and others where mostly one tribe is always ahead in leadership positions and the supposed leadership has not pushed the north to the top of the table in education or personal development.
“I have been in politics for more than three decades and I am a Northerner. So, if you ask me why I am the best candidate to lead Nigeria in 2023, I will simply say that what Nigeria needs is a pan-Nigerian president, not whether he is Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa-Fulani”.
Another report however quotes him as saying that “I am Northerner….Northerners don’t want Yoruba candidate or Igbo candidate. I am a Pan-Nigerian candidate of Northern origin.”
– Atiku Abubakar in Kaduna today promoting tribalism and ethnic division.
The session, which took place at the Arewa House was attended by high ranking leaders of various North based socio-cultural bodies.
Atiku, while delivering his speech at the event, highlighted the key policy agendas which he seeks to pursue if elected president to include promoting national unity through deliberate actions that will secure mutual trust and confidence amongst all tendencies.
The other policy areas that the former Vice President enumerated are reforms in education, agriculture and reversing the economic downturn of the country, according to a Press statement signed by
Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the PDP.
