The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, on Monday at a meeting with northern leaders in Kaduna organized by the Arewa Joint Committee for presidential candidates, begged the northern leaders not to endorse former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 elections. Tinubu and Shettima aligned with the earlier fear of the
Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who without mentioning name, expressed the fear the northern leaders planned to endorse a northern presidential candidate for the 2023 elections. Kwankwaso, on that suspicion, declined to attend the Arewa Joint Committee interactive session which he was scheduled to participate on Monday with Tinubu of the APC, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
Atiku Abubakar of the PDP participated at the Arewa Joint Committee interactive session in Kaduna.
Kwankwaso, in a letter by his campaign spokesperson, Abdulmumin Jibrin, to the organisers of the Arewa Joint Committee Meeting, had excused himself from the meeting saying he has already arranged campaign activities for the date and his technical team is still working on his policy document, on which the engagement is based.
Kwankwaso also alleged that his team is in possession of credible information that some of the organisers of the forum have been compromised, and that the event will be used to “clandestinely endorse” another candidate from Northern Nigeria.
The statement read in part, “We have credible information in our possession that shows that some people have been compromised and these people have concluded plans to turn the event into an endorsement platform for a particular candidate.
“We believe that it’s very wrong for any group to clandestinely plan to endorse any candidate in the name of the North, especially when we have more than one candidate from our region.”
The statement added: “We note that the earlier date was even postponed and a new date was fixed to coincide with the date of the rally of one of the presidential candidates in Kaduna. This further gives credence to the information in our possession that the event is being financed by that candidate.”
Kwankwaso, therefore, warned the organizers to refrain from endorsing any candidate, saying that it will further polarize the North.
At the session on Monday, Tinubu reechoed the position of Kwankwaso, demanding that the north should not endorse Atiku for 2023 presidency.
The Arewa Joint Committee comprises of six Northern coalitions, including the Arewa Consultative Forum, Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Northern Elders Forum, Jamar Matan Arewa, etc.